TTO 0068 Rhinestone Bar Pin Elegant and stylish Rhinestone Bar Pin. One large and four smaller rhinestones claw set in silver-tone metal, sparkling like diamonds should. 1940s. A girl's next best friend. The brooch measures 1 3/4" across. A rhinestone or paste or diamante is a diamond simulant made from rock crystal, glass or acrylic. Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river Rhine. The availability was greatly increased when around 1775 the Alsatian jeweller Georg Friedrich Strass had the idea to imitate diamonds by coating the lower side of glass with metal powder. Hence, rhinestones are called Strass in many European languages. Rhinestones may be used as imitations of diamonds, and some manufacturers even manage to reproduce the glistening effect real diamonds have in the sun.