16. Paste
An imitation that will get you the highest forms of flattery, paste refers to gemstones made from various cut glass, with the most common being lead glass due to its high refractive trait and dense material. Makers of paste have honed their crafts to the point of excellence where they can expertly duplicate the colour of the original gemstones, with fine paste emeralds often overshadowing their original counterparts.
Despite paste’s present day connotation as fraud jewellery, historically, creating paste jewellery was considered a commendable art form, especially in the 18th and 19th century during the Victorian and Georgian eras.
