Costume or cocktail jewellery as it is sometimes known has it origins back as far as Egyptians times. Italian merchants also used to substitute glass stones for real gemstones. Over time costume jewellery as it is known today was born. As with any type of jewellery that is made with gold or gems, any type of costume jewellery can also be fashioned from crystals or glass and costume jewellery bracelets are becoming very popular.

A Frenchman, Rene Lalique in the 1920’s was the first to design and mass produce excellent quality jewellery using coloured glass stones to emulate gemstones. He was closely followed by Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli who left their legacy on costume jewellery. Both of these women actively encouraged their fashion clients to utilise costume jewellery and not just to wear it alone but also to mix it with gemstone jewellery. This was a clever trick
on the part of the designers, wearing real and fake stones can make the fake stones appear real!

Another contributor to the costume jewellery industry was Napier’s in the 1930’s. This is an American based company and through clever and innovative design they placed themselves at the forefront of costume jewellery design and manufacturing. They offered extremely glamorous and elegant pieces and fantastic cocktail jewellery. Today, Napier’s still produce wonderful costume jewellery, albeit now they have moved with the times and sport a more modern and contemporary look. A diamond bracelet and matching choker could prove to be extremely expensive and this is where costume jewellery has the supreme advantage – price. As the price of costume jewellery is much lower it makes sense to buy the best quality available.

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