Design with rhinestones The world is crazy about rhinestones.Shiny dots light up everywhere: on door handles and telephones, on ceramic tiles and haute couture clothing, on naked women's bodies and false nails. They are inserted into dental crowns and even implanted in the cornea of the human eye! But for the last two hundred years, these sparkling pieces of glass have played a less than respectable role: they were used to make cheap costume jewelry and were involved in many scandals involving counterfeit jewelry. In the 18th century, Austrian jeweler Georg Julius Strass discovered that crystals very similar to diamonds could be cast from glass with the addition of lead. His followers learned to make "emeralds" by adding chromium oxide to the glass dough. Iron oxide was used to make topazes, and cobalt oxide was used to make "amethysts". The first to bring artificial "stones" out of the shadows was the Hollywood tailor, born in Kyiv, Nudi Cohn (his real name is Nuta Kotlyarenko). In the early 50s, he began sewing white suits for country and rock-n-roll stars, richly decorated with rhinestones and appliqués. He gave his first outfit to a famous singer at the time for free, and then the business quickly began to gain momentum. Elvis Presley himself became Nudi's loyal client.
Sofa Tatlin, Diamond Collection, Edra, salon"Flat Interiors" Kohn's idea was picked up by other couturiers. But the world of interior design ignored the fashion trend for a long time. When Swarovski crystals first sparkled on Edra sofas five years ago, it was a real challenge. The word "minimalism" was not yet a dirty word, and society naively believed that one genuine diamond was better than a whole handful of sparkling fakes. But now the pendulum has swung sharply in the other direction. The interior is full of excess and neo-baroque, and 80s-style glamour is returning to the catwalks. Strass's invention came in very handy. Especially since rhinestones "can" play with all the colors of the rainbow, like no diamond ever dreamed of. It's all about the fine coating of Aurora borealis (northern lights), which gives the pseudo-diamonds a rainbow shine. The world increasingly resembles the starry sky on a clear night. Socialite fashionistas and artists cannot imagine their lives without rhinestones. Recently, the Swarovski company made a crystal-studded Pan flute for German flutist Daniela de Santos. Why not? After all, there is only one step from kitsch to luxury.
