Juliana jewelry is popular throughout the season, but it becomes especially sought after during the Holidays,
Juliana Aurora Borealis Brooch
because of it’s amazing sparkle.
The next few blog posts will give a little insight into the Juliana phenomena.
What is Juliana jewelry?
DeLizza & Elster Volcanic Crackle
Let’s just say that it has cast a mesmerizing spell over a multitude of people (both men and women) who are now avid collectors of this gorgeous, high quality jewelry which holds it’s own when it comes to exquisite beauty and design. It is known for it’s over-the-top extravagant use of Swarovski crystals combined with rare and stunning art glass stones.
Let’s start at the beginning …
DeLizza and Elster span the period 1947 to the 1980′s. They produced an incredible variety of jewelry, along with manufacturing and selling to a number of design houses such as Boucher, Weiss, Gloria, Celebrity, Hobe, Kramer, and Hattie Carnegie, just to name a few. Each of these houses in turn put their own tag or mark on these pieces, thus blurring the line as to who a piece is actually attributed, and whether or not you are looking at a truly original D & E design.
From the period 1967-1968 this jewelry became a specific line which was produced under the name of Juliana, named
for Frank DeLizza’s mother.
Mr. DeLizza has made it clear that he prefers that only the pieces produced during this period be called “Juliana” and that all other pieces be identified as DeLizza & Elster.
There is a great deal of confusion dating and differentiating many of these pieces as a good number of the earlier pieces bear the same resemblance to the Juliana line, and it becomes neccessary to refer to the DeLizza and Elster and Juliana identification site, or submit the piece to Mr. DeLizza directly for verification.
An additional identification problem is that these pieces were unmarked and bore a hang tag only. When the piece was ready to be worn, the tag was thrown away.
So, let’s look at some of the general identification characteristics of a brooch, and to do this, one must not only look at the front of a piece, but at the back also, as that is where the true detective work pays off!
The brooch at the left is a classic example of a true Juliana piece. Here we see the use of aurora borealis stones (early DeLizza and Elster pieces were produced without aurora borealis, whereas pieces specifically known as Juliana were).
Looking to the right, we see unfoiled open back stones combines with closed back stones,
floating single pin construction with joint attached on one side and swival clasp on the other, shiny gold or silver plating, and figure eight puddle soldering. This puddle soldering was a time saver, by lining the stones up, soldering could be done in a single line, giving an appearance of a figure eight when looking at two of the stones.
Additionally, you will see these characteristics combined with open rivets on the back, and foil back stones combined with open backed stones. You will see wire reinforcements and floating wires, multi level construction.
This will give you a start in the identification of Juliana jewelry.
My next post will discuss bracelet construction and identification!
For more great reading on DeLizza and Elster/Juliana jewelry, be sure to view my Amazon book store to the right!
As always, be sure to leave comments and thoughts at the bottom of this post!
Best wishes,
Kathleen
