The History and Evolution of Fashion Jewellery

Jewellery made to look precious, or to delight without being precious at all, is almost as old as jewellery itself. Its story is one of ingenuity: craftspeople finding new materials, new techniques and new ideas about what makes an ornament beautiful. This guide traces the major chapters, from the ancient world to the global fashion jewellery industry of today.

Note: Jewellery history is vast and regional. This overview focuses on well-documented turning points and points you to museum sources for deeper reading.

Ancient beginnings: colour without gems

Long before modern plating, ancient cultures created jewellery that captured the colour of precious stones using other materials. In ancient Egypt, glazed faience and coloured glass were used in beads and inlays, offering the blue and green hues associated with turquoise and lapis lazuli. Glassmaking spread around the Mediterranean, and glass beads and inlays became part of jewellery traditions across many regions.

The lesson from this period still holds: what people valued was often colour, symbolism and craftsmanship, not only rarity.

Europe in the 18th century: paste and pinchbeck

The 1700s brought two inventions that shaped imitation jewellery for centuries.

Paste jewellery

"Paste" refers to high-quality glass cut and polished to sparkle like diamonds. Jewellers often backed the glass with foil to increase its brilliance. The name of the Parisian jeweller Georges Frédéric Strass became associated with this glass (in some languages, rhinestones are still called "strass"). Paste was worn by fashionable people across Europe, not merely as a cheap substitute but as a desirable material in its own right, and fine paste pieces are now collected and displayed by museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Pinchbeck

London watchmaker Christopher Pinchbeck developed a copper-zinc alloy that resembled gold. "Pinchbeck" became a name for gold-coloured jewellery and accessories made from this alloy, and the word later came to mean "imitation" more broadly.

The 19th century: industry meets ornament

The Industrial Revolution transformed jewellery production:

• Electroplating was developed and commercialised in the 1840s, making it possible to coat base metals with a thin layer of gold or silver.
• Machine stamping and die-striking allowed decorative components to be produced quickly and consistently.
• Growing middle classes wanted fashionable ornaments, creating demand for affordable jewellery.

Victorian jewellery also embraced sentiment and symbolism, from lockets to mourning jewellery, and many sentimental styles were made in both precious and non-precious versions.

In 1895, Daniel Swarovski established a crystal-cutting business in Wattens, Austria, using machine-cutting to produce precise crystal stones. Precision-cut crystal became a staple of fashion and stage jewellery in the following century.

The 1920s and 1930s: costume jewellery goes couture

This was the moment non-precious jewellery became openly fashionable. The FIDM Museum describes how wearing jewellery made of inexpensive materials such as glass, plastic and non-precious metals became acceptable in the 1920s, and how Paris couturiers helped popularise it.

• Gabrielle Chanel is generally credited with bringing costume jewellery into high fashion. Her faux pearls, worn in generous ropes and layered with real jewels, were admired for their design rather than their material value.
• Elsa Schiaparelli made jewellery a vehicle for wit and surrealism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art highlights her clear plastic necklace decorated with coloured metal insects from her 1938 "Pagan" collection.

Couture houses designed jewellery to complement their collections, and branded accessories allowed more people to own a piece of a designer's world.

Mid-century: the golden age of costume jewellery

In the decades around the Second World War, costume jewellery manufacturing flourished, particularly in the United States, where companies produced brooches, parures (matching sets) and statement necklaces in large numbers. Hollywood glamour fuelled demand for dramatic crystal and rhinestone designs, while new plastics such as Bakelite and Lucite introduced bold colours and shapes.

Many mid-century pieces are now sought after by collectors, valued for their designers, makers and craftsmanship.

Late 20th century: new materials and global production

• Cubic zirconia, a lab-made crystal with impressive brilliance, entered mass production in the 1970s and became one of the most popular diamond simulants.
• Global manufacturing expanded, with large production hubs in Asia supplying fashion retailers worldwide.
• Fast fashion accelerated trend cycles, and jewellery followed suit.

India's imitation jewellery tradition

India's jewellery heritage is among the oldest in the world, with techniques such as kundan setting and enamelling documented in Mughal court workshops by the Victoria and Albert Museum. As gold prices rose and celebrations multiplied, imitation jewellery grew into a major industry, recreating traditional bridal, temple and festive designs with brass, copper alloys, gold plating and glass stones.

Today, artificial jewellery is part of everyday life in India: worn to college and work, at festivals and at each function of multi-day weddings. Regional clusters of artisans and manufacturers specialise in particular styles, from temple-inspired designs to kundan-style sets. Explore these traditions in Indian Artificial Jewellery: A Complete Guide and Regional Indian Jewellery Styles.

The 21st century: online, personal and sustainable

Several forces shape fashion jewellery today:

• E-commerce and social media let small brands reach customers worldwide and made styling inspiration instantly visible.
• Personalisation: initials, birthstones and charms.
• Stainless steel and hypoallergenic-focused materials for everyday wear.
• Sustainability: interest in recycled metals, responsible sourcing and buying fewer, better-made pieces. See Sustainable Materials and Responsible Sourcing.
• Fusion design: traditional motifs reinterpreted in lighter, modern forms.

What history teaches today's buyer

1. Non-precious does not mean less beautiful. Paste, pinchbeck and couture costume jewellery prove that design and craft create value.
2. Materials keep evolving. Plating, crystal cutting and lab-made stones each opened new possibilities.
3. Quality varies in every era. Then as now, the best pieces are well designed, well made and honestly described.

Key takeaway

Fashion jewellery has always been about freedom: the freedom to express style without being limited by the cost of gold and gems. Understanding its history helps you appreciate the craftsmanship behind the pieces you wear today. Continue with Advantages and Disadvantages of Imitation Jewellery.

Sources and further reading

• FIDM Museum — Designer costume jewelry: Chanel and Schiaparelli
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973)
• Victoria and Albert Museum — Jewellery collections
• Victoria and Albert Museum — Traditional Indian jewellery making

Written by

HANSINI369 Editorial Team

Our editors research jewellery types, materials, care and craft, and review guides when materials, standards or recommendations change. Read our editorial policy.