The original rhinestones were rock crystals that were plucked from the shores of the Rhine River in Austria, hence the name. But, as the sources of genuine rhinestones became depleted, resourceful jewelers sought techniques to duplicate the look of the original rhinestones.In the latter part of the 1770s, a French jeweler by the name of George Frederic Stras came up with the idea of metal-coating the backs of clear crystals, which would force reflection from the backing out through the stone. That method created rhinestones as we know them today. An advancement by Daniel Swarovski in the technique of cutting crystals to mimic the facets of gemstones more than a century later, enabled rhinestones to be produced en masse, and the popularity of rhinestones soared.
Rhinestuds are composed of coated aluminium metal on the top and hotmelt glue on the bottom, however, they are faceted to take on the shape of a rhinestone. They also do sparkle, but not so shining as rhinestone. The appearance and the colors are almost same with rhinestone. Rhinestuds are not so expensive as much as rhinestone.
Nailheads are metallic dots as well. Shinny surface and flat shapes.
What is a hotfix heat transfer design or motif?
The term "hotfix" refers to elements with a heat activated glue that can be ironed on or applied with a heat press. The finished design is applied as a "heat transfer" and may be referred to as a "motif".
What is the difference between Swarovski crystals and other rhinestones?
Swarovski has been known for the finest quality Austrian crystal. However now both Korean and China Rhinestone Crystals has become known for their finest quality.
Can all the clothing be ironed-on a rhinestone motif?
No. Not all the clothing are suitable to iron on a rhinestone motif. The cloth must be flat and it can glue very well together with the rhinestones. Some cloth such as corduroy, net cloth, plush etc are not suitable because there are the fluff on it, and the touch area with rhinestone is too small to adsorb very well. The rhinestones are easy to fall down from this kind of cloth. Also some cloth with 3d effect such as hubble-bubble cotton is not suitable.
In fact, K9 crystal is not a natural crystal properly, it is one kind of optical glass. Our products are mainly made by this kind of glass. It looks very transparent. Hardness is low and it can be cut easily and commonly used for marking, subsurface engraving in the fields of gifts or advertisement. There are not the composition of PbO inside and it can not be blown to glassware.
What is the difference between crystal and glass properly?
The composition of glass is SiO2. Crystal is the glass with high content of Pb inside, i.e. 24% PbO is added into the glass. The internation standard of PbO content is 24%, with this percentage the physical and chemical performance is the best. The specific gravity reaches 3.17g/cm3 (it is more heavy than glass). The refractive index reaches up to 1.545 (it can transmiss the spectrum color) but it is about 1.2 for glass. The high transmission percentage can reaches 90%, also crystal has high hardness and wearable.
What is the crude crystal?
Natural block shape, mineral material, high percentage of impurity, and the PbO content is about 5% to 10%. It is not proper to process the superior glassware.
What is the pure crystal?
There are 24% PbO composition inside glass. Not 100% PbO.
How to distinguish the crystal and glass?
a. Material
Crystal is the crystallized SiO2. Glass is the mixture of SiO2 fusion.
b. Function
Glass is mainly used for docoration. Crystal can be used for docoration, gifts, ornaments and better for the health.
c. Price
Crystal price is much higer than glass price.
d. Physical performance
Crystal has high hardness (Moh's grade 7), but glass is about Moh's 5.5. Crystal can nick on glass, but glass can not nick on crystal.Crystal has high thermal conduction. You can feel cool if you lap up on the crystal, but you will feel warm if you lap up on the glass.Crystal can transmiss the spectrum but glass can't if you use a polarizer (mirror).
e. Processing
Glass can be heat-moulded, save material and working time. Low cost.Crystal can not be reversed if it is melt. It can not be heat-moulded, but it can be cutting, spolishing etc. High cost.
Crystal' hardness is too high to wearable. Glass is easy to wear.
Crystal has good stability, the color can not be changed, but glass color become a little yellow after a long time.
