The Rhine River is in Austria, and the sand in the area of the Rhine River, has a lead content, that leads the sand, to sparkle and shine. At some point hundreds of years ago, the glass was removed from the riverbank, and used to make jewelry. Yes, rhinestone jewelry dates as far back as the 1700s. Maybe even earlier, there weren’t too many people around back then to tell us the exact date of the origins of rhinestone costume jewelry. It’s anybody’s guess. Swarovski popularized rhinestone jewelry in the…