This book starts from those periods in history (18th and 19th centuries) when the concept of costume jewellery, which is considered to be something that puts the finishing touches on fashion, did not as yet exist. The custom in the past was to make copies of real jewels with precious or semi-precious materials; moreover, great effort was made to invent material to replace precious stones and gold (strass, marcasite, pinchbeck, pomponne, etc.). The volume ends with an attempt to define the styles of the decades close to the contemporary period - as yet never examined - with particular interest in the '60s,'70s,'80s and '90s and in the names of creators, designers and manufacturers who are still unknown to us.
