Basic Vintage Rhinestone Information

• Flatback or FB - A rhinestone which has an even, flat underside, suitable for applying to other flat surfaces such as clothing, nails, crafts, etc.  These can easily be applied with adhesive.
• Faceted Back or "pointy" back - A rhinestone which has a pointed, faceted underside, suitable for jewelry, crafts, and clothing (when used with the proper settings).
• Domed Back - A rhinestone which has a rounded, dome-like underside that is not faceted or flat.
• Foiled Back - The underside/bottom of the rhinestone is coated with a metallic foil, most commonly silver or gold, thereby causing the light to reflect back as if from a mirror.
• Unfoiled Back - The underside/bottom of the rhinestone is un-foiled, thereby allowing the light to pass completely through.

• Machine Cut or Full Tin Cut - The machine cut rhinestone is the most brilliant.  They are glass crystal and each facet is cut and polished in such a way that the edges are sharp and crisp, giving the rhinestone an unparallelled sparkle.  Swarovski rhinestones (produced in Austria) are an excellent example and are certainly the most prized and valuable.  Vintage machine cut rhinestones were also produced in other countries, i.e Czechoslovakia, West Germany, and France.
• Half Tin Cut- All of the facets on the top side of the stone have been cut and polished.
• TTC (Table Tin Cut) and Table Polished - These stones are molded glass in which the table (top facet) has been highly polished, usually giving the rhinestone a better sparkle and brilliance than fire polished stones.
• Demi-Fin - Produced in France in the 1950's, the term "demi fin" literally means "half-finished."  These stones are molded glass with the table being polished (like the table polished stone).
• Fire Polished or FP- These are molded glass stones which were polished by using either heat or vibration (or a combination of both.)  These stones often have vivid, bright color but do not have the sparkle that machine cut rhinestones do and the edges are not as finished as TTC and Machine Cut.

• Faceted - Faceted stones are cut/molded to have multiple, flat surfaces to reflect/refract the light.
• Cabochon - Cabochons have a smooth, domed top without facets. Usually they are flat-backed.
• Cab Top - Faceted, domed bottom side with a smooth, cabochon top-side.
• Opaque - Opaque stones do not allow the passage of light.  They are most often unfoiled.  Many opaque stones are created to simulate natural stone, such as turquoise, coral, jade, and onyx.
• Moonstone - A type of stone which is semi-opaque (the bottom of the stone is opaque and the body of the stone is translucent) creating billowy, shifting light across the stone.
• Opal - A type of rhinestone made to simulate the appearance of an opal, often semi-translucent and usually having a gold foiled back.  Some Opal stones have silver foil embedded within them as well as other colored glass (i.e. green and red) to simulate the qualities of natural opals..
• Peak or Bullet Nose - Type of Cabochon in which the rounded top is very highly domed.
• Cameo - A stone where a design is raised on the top surface of the stone.  Genuine cameos were often carved from conch shells.
• Baroque Top - The top of the stone has an irregular, curved pattern.
• Channel Cut Stone - The top and bottom cuts of the stone are identical
• Doublet - The back is faceted and domed.  The top is either faceted or cab.
• Intaglio - A design is recessed into either the top of the bottom of the stone.
• Rose Cut Chaton - A round, faceted stone with a flat back.

• AB or Aurora Borealis (introduced in 1955) is a thin, metallic, irridescent finish applied to the top of the stone that creates a multi-color effect.
• Matte is a finish that makes the surface of the glass appear without gloss or shine, usually having a lightly textured feel.
• Comet Or (Now called Comet Aurum) is a gold finish that makes the stone look as if it is made of gold.
• Comet Argent Light is a metallic finish, causing the rhinestone to appear as silver.
• Other finishes/effects include Vitrail, Bermuda, Heliotrope and more.

• PP = Pearl Plate - a method of sizing originally used for pearls by which pearls were put on a surface or plate with holes.  The pearls were sized by which holes they fell through.  PP is usually used for smaller stones.  Pearl plate has a variance of 1/10 of a milimeter where a Stone Size has a variance of 2/10 of a milimeter.
• SS = Stone Size - the most current method of rhinestone sizing although PP Is still used.  Some stones will have both a PP and SS size on the package label.