Rhinestones are Lead oxide-based crystal, which imitates diamond thanks to its hardness and luster and, if colored, lends itself to the imitation of other precious stones: r. earrings; a shimmering dress of r.
This is the definition of strass that is given by the Great Italian Dictionary Hoelpi (dictionaries.hoelpi.it).
Basically the rhinestones are glass fragments with a flat side (flat back) where we find a thin silver foil that reflects the light and particular facets that divide it into its components (colored reflections). Crystal is a particular type of glass that contains a high percentage of lead and a higher refractive index.
In the thermoadhesive rhinestones on the flat side there is a layer of glue that melts with heat and when placed on fabrics the glue penetrates into the fibers and resolidifying, following cooling, allows the rhinestone to remain attached; it is for this reason that rhinestones can be applied hot only on porous materials (therefore also rough paper, suede ...); hot application is also possible on other materials such as wood or leather / hide only if these have not undergone any finishing, painting or polishing processes; the fact remains, however, that the resistance and duration of the grip will be lower than when applied to fabric.
The application on smooth and non-porous surfaces (metal, plastic, varnished wood ...) must instead be done 'cold' with the addition of specific glues, glues for costume jewelery, bicomponent glues, etc. that are compatible both with the surface on which they are applied and with the rhinestones (classic cyanacrylate, for example, ruins the rhinestone). For cold application there are rhinestones without glue on the market but thermoadhesives can be used anyway ... glue on glue is placed.
Now I want to illustrate the differences I found between two types of rhinestones that I was able to use. There are several companies but for the quality / price ratio I recommend Swarovski® or 'Korean', the former very expensive, the latter decidedly cheaper.
I open a small parenthesis: it is often generalized by calling all Swarovski rhinestones which instead is only the most famous among rhinestone producers; when, a few years ago I had adverts on ebay in which I was selling Swarovski rhinestones, I happened to write to me asking if they were original; in fact, unlike others, I have never used this term in my advertisements assuming that if I write Swarovski, that is ... rhinestones produced by Swarovski. Sorry but I am very fussy about these things and you will be able to find out in the future for other products and terminologies used.
Let's see some of the characteristics of Swarovski: the most important is that they are crystal rhinestones that is they have a high refractive index; another feature is the perfect cut and the particular Xilion Rose facet (copyrighted cut) which gives particular brilliance, it is a cut with fourteen facets 7 wider and 7 thinner; then I consider the quality of the glue (we are talking about thermoadhesives), certainly better and optimally distributed, lower at the edges greater in the center; finally, the variety of colors and shades has no equal.
The 'Korean' rhinestones are in simple glass, have a cut with 12 identical facets and the glue is evenly distributed; obviously the quality is much lower (but with an excellent value for money), the cut is not always perfect, but lately they are produced of excellent and with new colors but at the same time the prices, for some colors, are starting to get quite high .
The uses that can be made of it are: decoration of clothing, accessories, objects; they can be applied individually, written designs can be formed, textures or mosaics can be created, the choice is up to everyone's taste and imagination.
They have now become a classic of clothing decoration on a par with sequins or sequins; we find them applied on t-shirts or jeans in ready-to-wear fashion or on elegant haute couture dresses and accessories.
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