Diamante or rhinestone is a diamond substitute 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 capture the glistening effect real diamonds have in the sun.

In 1955, the Aurora Borealis or Aqua aura, a thin, vacuum-sputtered metallic coating applied to crystal stones to produce an iridescent effect, was introduced. Aurora Borealis tends to reflect whatever color is worn near it, and it is named after the Aurora Borealis atmospheric phenomenon, also known as the Northern Lights.

Typically, crystal rhinestones have been primarily used on costumes, apparel and jewellery. Crystal rhinestones are produced mainly in Austria by Swarovski and in Czech Republic by Preciosa and a few other Bohemian Glassworks in Northern Bohemia. In USA, these are sometimes called Austrian Crystal.