Jewellery

From Strass to Style: The History of Paste Jewellery

6 August 2025

Kate Jolley

In and amongst the antique jewellery offered at auction; the emeralds, rubies, and diamonds, is an often-overlooked genre of gem. The nature of these jewels lends itself to camouflage and mimicry but there is more to paste jewellery than meets the eye initially and the history of these pieces is rich and worth exploration.

When we think of the word ‘paste’, what may come to mind is something sticky or resinous in the broadest of senses. We may think of wallpaper paste for decorating or food pastes like marzipan. Paste jewellery, however, refers traditionally to brilliant glass. The term has been on occasion used erroneously when referring to rock crystal and rhinestone. We can date paste jewellery as far back as the 15th century but if we just think of glass jewellery as synonymous with paste jewellery, we could potentially go even further back to Ancient Rome and Greece. For the purposes of brevity though, paste jewellery within our context refers to jewellery made with paste but with the intent of imitating the appearance of fine gemstones.

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Some of the oldest dated paste jewellery originates from Milan and was appropriately titled ‘Milanese Paste’ - it specifically imitated emerald and sapphire. At this time, the glass used was ostensibly ordinary glass but of a mixture that gave it more brilliance. The paste that we are more familiar with today is a derivative of a lead-based glass and often referred to as ‘Strass’.

The process for the production of Strass is quite involved, developed by Georges-Frédéric Strass in the 1730s following his move to Paris from Wolfsheim where he became a royally appointed jeweller to the King of France. Strass is a borosilicate of potassium and lead, with small quantities of alumina and arsenic. When it is uncoloured, the appearance strongly resembles diamond but with the addition of metallic oxides and salts, Strass can be coloured to further mimic other fine gems. The popularity of his gems and name enabled Georges-Frédéric Strass to retire early, and he ceded his business and gem manufactory to his nephew-in-law in his early fifties. There are some who credit the creation of Strass to a Joseph Strasser of Vienna, however, such accounts have been largely discredited.

There are two main interpretations of the purpose behind the use of paste in jewellery. Some see paste jewellery as a substitute for fine pieces, particularly useful as a safer alternative when travelling. Paste could trick highwaymen into thinking they’d stolen something of immense value, much as today’s ‘travel ring’ functions when couples go away on holiday.

Paste as an imitation of fine jewellery also fills the need in the growing middle class for pieces within their purchase bracket. These jewels that look like ‘the real thing’ but are actually cleverly made facsimiles, allowed a family of moderate means to look well-to-do. In this instance too they acted as transitional pieces for these families to become accustomed to the appearance and wear of finer jewels and to develop their personal tastes without making the larger investment in precious gems.

A compelling piece of evidence to support this argument is the so called ‘black spot’ that can sometimes be visible on paste jewels that are meant to imitate diamonds. This black spot, made of a pitch like paint, is added to the bottom of a paste (typically set in an enclosed mounting) to replicate the windowing effect caused by an open culet. In this way, the paste gem recalls the appearance of an old-cut diamond very convincingly.

The alternative interpretation for the purpose of paste jewels was as an artform. As a material, paste gems are faceted and shaped in the same way as precious gems but they offer a less expensive point of entry for experimentation. As such, jewellers and designers could make fantastical pieces that would be technically easier to fabricate. With less risk of ruining an expensive and difficult to source gemstone, the gem-cutter could create unique shapes and faceting styles with the reassurance that they could easily replace any paste they inadvertently ruined. We see similar practices today with gem-cutters who create innovative fantasy cuts in lab-grown material.

The mounting material for paste can range from pewter to silver to gold as well, while the gold pieces may be arguably for the purposes of replicating fine jewels, pewter and silver have historically been less expensive and malleable materials that can lend themselves easily to unique styles and designs. A persuasive assertion of this interpretation is the sheer volume at the height of popularity of paste jewels of joailliers-faussetiers (jewellers who specialised in paste). Surely if these pieces were just meant to be imitations, they would be made on a more bespoke level than at the shocking volume that were actually produced.

Regardless of the purpose behind the creation of these gems, they offer us a unique opportunity today to peer into the past. Because paste jewellery was often made with less expensive materials, they were rarely if ever reworked or recycled into new pieces. This means that we can glimpse some of the fashions and fads of the times in which they were made. Each jewel is a window back in time and whether you appreciate them now for their historic significance or their artistic merit (or perhaps you just want a piece to comfortably travel with) paste jewellery is a unique fashion statement that is just as wearable now as it was when it was first made.

Department

Jewellery

About the Author

Specialist

Kate Jolley

Associate Jewellery Specialist | Edinburgh

kate.jolley@lyonandturnbull.com

0131 557 8844