The museum has undergone several stages in its development. The first impulses for its establishment date back to the late 19th century and are associated with the activities of the Industrial Educational and Support Society. The origins of the museum as such date back to 1904, when the first permanent exhibition was opened. In 1911, the museum acquired a building at 9 Školní Street. The resulting institution survived all the political turmoil of the following years.
In 1949, under its new name, the Art Industry Museum (Muzeum pro umělecký průmysl) moved to the former Zimmer & Schmidt export house in Jiráškova Street, now U Muzea Street, where it remains to this day. From 1953-1961, the museum was incorporated as a branch of the National Technical Museum in Prague, and in 1961 it came under the administration of the District National Committee in Jablonec nad Nisou, specialising in the history of glass and costume jewellery, which was reflected in the new name – the Museum of Glass and Jewellery. In the same year, the museum was granted national authority in the field of costume jewellery, and in the field of glass it was first granted regional authority, and national from 1977.
A major milestone in the museum’s history was 2003, when the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic became the patron of the museum as part of the reform of public administration on 1 January 2003. Subsequently, it was opened to the public after the completion of extensive refurbishment, with new exhibitions entitled The Magical World of Costume Jewellery (from 2014 under the title The Endless Story of Costume Jewellery) and The Enchanted Garden – Seven Centuries of Czech Glass.
In 2020, a unique extension in the shape of a cut-glass stone, designed by Prague architect Michal Hlaváček, was added to the main building. It was awarded Building of the Year 2020. In 2022, a permanent exhibition of Christmas decorations, World of Wonders, was opened to the public.
Since 1963, the museum has been maintaining the last surviving building of the former glassmaking settlement Kristiánov 52 (in the village of Bedřichov), where it houses the Glass Settlement Kristiánov permanent exhibition.
In addition, it operates two further buildings which are not public, serving as depositories and staff offices.
