The Juliana Collector is an educational resource devoted to identifying, studying, and preserving Juliana jewelry made by DeLizza & Elster.

Written by Karla Wacker, co-author of Juliana Jewelry – The Last Generation and creator of the Is It Juliana Jewelry database, these articles draw on more than 20 years of research, documented jewelry examples, original DeLizza & Elster material, and information learned directly from Frank DeLizza.

Explore guides to Juliana construction techniques, figurals, stones, bracelets, design variations, and other identification clues used to study unsigned DeLizza & Elster jewelry.

The Juliana Collector

The Juliana Collector — Heat-Formed Plastic: Another Side of Juliana, with an original photograph of the vintage owl pendant and matching earrings
Heat-Formed Plastic: Another Side of Juliana
How did DeLizza & Elster shape plastic into dramatic Juliana flowers and pendants? Explore Frank DeLizza's account of the manufacturing process and three documented necklaces. Read more...
How to Search the IIJJ Database — filters, keywords, and finding a true match
How to Search the IIJJ Database: Filters, Keywords & Finding a Match
Learn how to use the IIJJ database's original filters and new search bar, why keyword searches can miss entries, and how to recognize an exact DeLizza & Elster match. Read more...
What Frank Actually Said: DeLizza & Elster Made Jewelry for Weiss. Source: Frank DeLizza memoir pages 16 and 36.
What Frank Actually Said: DeLizza & Elster Made Jewelry for Weiss
Frank DeLizza documented Albert Weiss as an early D&E customer and later described small dress clips made for Weiss. Explore the Flowering Frost advertisement, signed Weiss jewelry, and a documented... Read more...
Juliana's uncommon multi-prong designs: gold and purple oval-prong brooch and warm topaz round-prong brooch on champagne background
Juliana's Uncommon Multi-Prong Designs: Two Families and a Few Surprises
Explore the two uncommon Juliana multi-prong design families—oval and round—and discover how unusual exceptions add to the DeLizza & Elster identification story. Read more...
Beyond the Rhinestones: Juliana’s Twisted and Textured Metalwork, with three close-up photographic comparisons
Beyond the Rhinestones: Juliana’s Twisted and Textured Metalwork
From rope-like frames to textured antennae and gold-tone leaves, explore the metalwork that gives Juliana jewelry its distinctive character. Read more...
Can I Tempt You? The Necklace I Found on Mr. D’s Design Board — The Juliana Collector
Can I Tempt You? The Necklace I Found on Mr. D’s Design Board
A dramatic clear rhinestone necktie necklace became even more intriguing when I recognized its design on one of Mr. D’s original DeLizza & Elster design boards. See the necklace and... Read more...
The D&E Pin Stop: An Important Juliana Identification Clue
The D&E Pin Stop: An Important Juliana Identification Clue
Sometimes the smallest construction details can offer valuable clues when identifying Juliana jewelry. One of those details is the D&E pin stop—a small but interesting feature found on certain DeLizza... Read more...
A New Clue in Juliana Construction
A New Clue in Juliana Construction
In the turtles, the construction is used only for small figural details. In the newly discovered set, however, the same method becomes a much more prominent part of the jewelry... Read more...
What Frank Actually Said: Why D&E Wouldn't Work Exclusively for Coro
What Frank Actually Said: Why D&E Wouldn't Work Exclusively for Coro
What happened when Coro wanted all of DeLizza & Elster’s factory production? Frank DeLizza tells the story — and why his father chose not to let D&E become dependent on... Read more...
When Juliana Went Wooden: DeLizza & Elster’s Unusual Wood Jewelry
When Juliana Went Wooden: DeLizza & Elster’s Unusual Wood Jewelry
Wood isn’t a material most collectors immediately associate with Juliana. But DeLizza & Elster used polished wood in some wonderfully unusual later designs, including cuckoo clocks, owls, earrings and even... Read more...
D&E Behind the Name: Alexis Kirk
D&E Behind the Name: Alexis Kirk
Alexis Kirk’s connection to DeLizza & Elster spans more than a decade, from cast buckles in the early 1970s to oversized statement jewelry in the 1980s. Period advertising, tagged examples... Read more...
Can I Tempt You? The Lions That Led Back to DeLizza &Elster
Can I Tempt You? The Lions That Led Back to DeLizza &Elster
An unusual Juliana necklace, brooch and earring set reveals its DeLizza & Elster story through lion heads, openwork hearts and a distinctive book chain. Read more...
Color on the Back: Juliana’s Enamel-Back Designs
Color on the Back: Juliana’s Enamel-Back Designs
Turn Juliana jewelry over and you may find another part of the design waiting on the back. This article looks at two documented DeLizza & Elster enamel-back designs, including examples... Read more...
When Juliana Went Big: Rhinestone Collar Necklaces by DeLizza & Elster
When Juliana Went Big: Rhinestone Collar Necklaces by DeLizza & Elster
DeLizza & Elster created some extraordinary rhinestone collar necklaces — from icy crystal designs to bold black, multicolor and Aurora Borealis examples. A look at how Juliana went big, including... Read more...
What Frank Actually Said: Copying Was Part of the Costume Jewelry Business
What Frank Actually Said: Copying Was Part of the Costume Jewelry Business
Frank DeLizza spoke often about copying in the costume jewelry industry. His stories help explain why two pieces can look remarkably alike — and still come from different manufacturers. Read more...
Juliana Takes Flight: Bird Figurals by DeLizza & Elster
Juliana Takes Flight: Bird Figurals by DeLizza & Elster
Swans, ducks, peacocks, chicks, road runners and more — DeLizza & Elster created a wonderful variety of Juliana bird figurals. Take a closer look at the different designs and the... Read more...
D&E Behind the Name: Carol Dauplaise
D&E Behind the Name: Carol Dauplaise
Carol Dauplaise appears repeatedly in Frank DeLizza’s account of D&E, from the Fifth Avenue showroom years to the changing fashion jewelry of the 1970s. Her story shows just how varied... Read more...
Can I Tempt You? The Necklace That Made the Cover
Can I Tempt You? The Necklace That Made the Cover
Some Juliana pieces do more than catch your eye. This dramatic Egyptian Revival necklace, IIJJ#2775, became the cover piece for Juliana Jewelry – The Last Generation. Take a closer look... Read more...
The Forgotten DEC Pieces: A DeLizza & Elster Story Worth Revisiting
The Forgotten DEC Pieces: A DeLizza & Elster Story Worth Revisiting
A fascinating group of DEC-marked pendants has long sat on the edge of the Juliana story. Designed by DeLizza & Elster but manufactured outside the D&E factory, these whimsical “puppet... Read more...
D&E Behind the Name: DeLizza & Elster for Les Bernard
D&E Behind the Name: DeLizza & Elster for Les Bernard
Les Bernard was one of the many companies DeLizza & Elster manufactured jewelry for. Frank DeLizza documented the relationship, and surviving pieces and dated references help trace that connection over... Read more...
What Was the Real Connection Between Pakula and DeLizza & Elster? What Frank Actually Said
What Was the Real Connection Between Pakula and DeLizza & Elster? What Frank Actually Said
What was the real connection between Pakula and DeLizza & Elster? Frank DeLizza’s own memoir explains how Pakula buyer Genevieve Loeb purchased the D&E line, placed pieces in Pakula catalogs,... Read more...
Let’s Get Buggy: Juliana Bug Figurals — Part 3
Let’s Get Buggy: Juliana Bug Figurals — Part 3
A closer look at Juliana bug figurals with rhinestone-tipped antennae, an unusual construction detail seen on only a small number of documented bug designs. Front and back examples help collectors... Read more...
Was Juliana Really Only Made for Two Years? What Frank DeLizza Actually Said
Was Juliana Really Only Made for Two Years? What Frank DeLizza Actually Said
Was Juliana really only made for two years? Frank DeLizza’s own memoir tells a more complicated story. Using pages 68–69 of Memoirs of a Fashion Jewelry Manufacturer, we look at... Read more...
Let’s Get Buggy! Juliana Bug Figurals – Part 2
Let’s Get Buggy! Juliana Bug Figurals – Part 2
Continue learning how to identify Juliana bug figurals through construction rather than color alone. This guide examines bumblebees, wasps, glitter bugs, and dragonflies, with special attention to antennae, wing construction,... Read more...
Let’s Get Buggy! Juliana Bug Figurals: Learning the Basic Families
Let’s Get Buggy! Juliana Bug Figurals: Learning the Basic Families
Learn how to identify Juliana bug figurals by studying design families rather than relying on an exact visual match. This guide examines bodies, wings, navettes, antennae, and back construction to... Read more...
Cast Channels: A Signature DeLizza & Elster Innovation
Cast Channels: A Signature DeLizza & Elster Innovation
Learn how DeLizza & Elster used cast channels as a distinctive Juliana jewelry construction technique. This guide examines documented examples, construction details, and identification clues collectors can use when studying... Read more...
Understanding Rivets: Another Clue to Authentic Juliana Jewelry
Understanding Rivets: Another Clue to Authentic Juliana Jewelry
Many collectors believe DeLizza & Elster never used rivets—but the truth is more nuanced. Learn how D&E used rivets to attach decorative layers, bead hangers, dangles, and florettes, and why... Read more...
Beyond the Five Links: Understanding Juliana Bracelet Construction
Beyond the Five Links: Understanding Juliana Bracelet Construction
Learn how to identify Juliana bracelet construction beyond the familiar “five-link” rule. This guide explains the folded front-joining connectors, oval links, clasp construction, and other DeLizza & Elster details collectors... Read more...
Authentic vintage Juliana DeLizza Elster rhinestone jewelry piece showing original stone construction
Restoration vs. Restoning: Protecting the History of Juliana Jewelry
Learn the difference between proper restoration and restoning in Juliana jewelry, and why preserving original DeLizza & Elster stone combinations matters. This guide shows collectors how altered pieces can affect... Read more...
Square Wire
Square Wire
Learn how DeLizza & Elster actually used rivets in authentic Juliana jewelry. This guide explains the difference between decorative attachment rivets and swedged construction, and shows how rivets can help... Read more...
Figure 8's: One of Juliana's Most Important Construction Clues
Figure 8's: One of Juliana's Most Important Construction Clues
Learn how to identify authentic Juliana Figure 8 construction, one of DeLizza & Elster’s most important jewelry clues. This guide explains the true 2-section and 3-section 20ss chaton settings, how... Read more...