Picking the best rhinestone color

Crystal (Clear) Rhinestones

The standard color you’ll find across all manufacturers is clear, often called “Crystal.” This shouldn’t be confused with the material crystal. Sometimes it’s labeled as Crystal (Clear) or just “Clear.” Customers sometimes call it silver because the clear crystal with a silver backing looks light silver.

Fun fact: Older crystals were made with leaded glass for extra sparkle, but now, to comply with laws, modern rhinestones are lead-free.

We often get asked, “Which color sparkles the most?” All colors in a brand sparkle similarly, but if we had to pick, Crystal or Crystal AB would be the sparkliest.

Crystal Aurora Borealis (AB) Rhinestones

Crystal Aurora Borealis (Crystal AB) and Crystal are our most popular rhinestone colors.

Named after the Northern Lights, AB rhinestones reflect the colors around them, just like the sky’s dazzling light show. Crystal AB stones have a translucent iridescence, changing subtly with the surface and viewing angle.

For a twist, try Crystal AB Unfoiled. These clear stones with an AB coating let the color of your project’s material shine through.

Standard Colors

When the crystal material is colored without any added coating, they’re called “standard colors.” These names are common across rhinestone brands and usually include all birthstone colors. They’re great for matching team colors because of their true hues.

  Here are some of our most popular standard colors:

• Light Siam Red
• Sapphire Blue 
• Emerald Green
• Amethyst Purple
• Jet Black

These standard colors are often inspired and named using precious or semi-precious stone names.

Coated Color

Coated Colors have a special finish on top of the stone. This coating can be added to clear rhinestones (crystal coated) or colored rhinestones (color coated). When clear rhinestones are coated, either on top or between the crystal and foil backing, they sparkle with a unique effect. These colors are referred to as “special effect colors.” Coatings include:

• Aurora Borealis (AB) & Shimmer AB
• Metallic
• Special Effect Crystal Coated

Each of these three beautiful types of coatings deserves a shout out.  

Aurora Borealis (AB) & Shimmer AB Rhinestones

The traditional Aurora Borealis (AB) coating looks stunning on both Crystal AB and standard colors. Any coating can be applied to any standard color or clear rhinestones.

Metallic Rhinestones

Metallic coatings are coatings placed on top of Crystal and, in some cases, jet black. A few of our favorite selections include:

• Aurum
• Hematite
• Labrador/Comet Argent Light*
• Capri Gold/Rose Gold*
• Starlight Gold/Metallic Light Gold*

Aurum is pretty unique and deserves a special shout-out. Named after the Latin word for “gold” (and the element symbol “AU”), Aurum rhinestones are coated in a thin layer of real gold. These rhinestones are extraordinary and tend to hold a high-end price point, while Crystal is on the lower end.

Special Effect Crystal Coated Rhinestones

Specialty Crystal Coatings are applied on top or on the backside of clear rhinestones to create unique colors that can’t be achieved by coloring the crystal glass itself. A few of our favorite selections include:

• Volcano
• Vitrail Light
• Vitrail Medium
• Neons/Electrics*
• Sunrise/Metallic Sunshine*
• Nightfall/Graphite*