What is a bedazzler?

The original: a stud and rhinestone setter

The tool that made the name famous was a small table-top press. You loaded a metal setting (a stud, or a rhinestone held in a claw), laid the fabric over it and pressed. Prongs went through the fabric and folded over on the inside, clamping the decoration in place with no glue at all.

The design grew out of a rhinestone and stud setter that Herman Brickman worked on in the 1970s; his company later sold it under the Bedazzler name, and the registration it filed records first use in 1981. It became a fixture of 1980s and 1990s denim.

Prong setting still exists, mostly as professional stud-setting machines and hand tools. It is strong and fully washable, but it leaves holes and only works with stones made for settings. See Rhinestone and stud setters.

How does a bedazzler work, and how the word spread

Over time “bedazzle” became an everyday verb for decorating with rhinestones, and sellers began calling any rhinestone tool a bedazzler. On Amazon today, “bedazzler kit” covers three things:

1. Glue-on kits — resin “jelly” flatbacks, a tube of glue and a wax pick-up pen. By far the bestselling kind. See How to use a bedazzling kit.
2. Hotfix applicators — heated wands that melt glue already on the back of glass stones. See How to use a hotfix applicator.
3. Stud and prong setters — the mechanical descendants of the original.

They are not interchangeable. A hotfix wand does nothing on a phone case, and a glue kit is a poor choice for a T-shirt you plan to wash. Hotfix vs glue-on rhinestones sets out the differences.

Bedazzler meaning, and a note on the name

BEDAZZLER is a registered trademark in the United States, and its registration has changed hands over the years. This site is not connected with any owner of that mark. We use “bedazzler” the way most people now do: as the ordinary word for a rhinestone tool or kit.

Which one do you need?

Decide by surface: fabric that will be washed → hotfix; hard or non-porous objects → glue-on; heavy denim or leather where you want studs → a prong setter. The project finder does this for you, and The best bedazzling kits and rhinestone kits for your project shows current kits.