One of the questions I hear most often is how to search the Is It Juliana Jewelry? (IIJJ) database. Some collectors select so many filters that nothing appears. Others choose too few and face pages of results. Now that we've added a keyword search bar, there's another question: Which search method should I use?
The answer is both—but it helps to understand what each one can and cannot find. And remember, the goal is to locate the same design, not simply jewelry that looks somewhat similar.
Start with the Original Filters
The redesigned database still has the original filters. In fact, those filters were once the only way to search IIJJ. The keyword search is an addition, not a replacement.
Start with characteristics you're confident about. Sometimes you'll find your piece immediately. If you get no results, remove a filter or two. A feature may have been recorded differently, and an empty search does not mean the design isn't in IIJJ. If you get too many results, add a more distinctive characteristic. The goal is a manageable group of pieces you can examine—not to select every possible filter. When you're unsure of an attribute, leave it blank rather than guess.
A Stone Shape Rule Many Collectors Don't Know
When a piece contains more than one stone shape, IIJJ's Stone Shape field records the shape used less commonly across D&E designs, not necessarily the shape appearing most often on that particular piece.
Suppose a brooch has both pears and navettes. Because pears are less common in D&E jewelry, the recorded stone shape would be pear. Searching only for navettes could miss that brooch, even though it contains plenty of them. This is why changing just one filter can make such a difference. It's a cataloging choice intended to help distinguish designs, not a count of which stone appears most often in the brooch.
Why Can't I Search by Brooch Shape?
Because brooches in the same design family don't always have the same outline. A family may include a round brooch and a diamond-shaped brooch. If you searched only for round designs, you could miss its diamond-shaped relative. Brooch shape is different from stone shape. Shared design and construction details are more useful for discovering related pieces. Of course, belonging to one family does not make two differently shaped brooches an exact match. The family connection is valuable for research even when the pieces are not identical.
What About Figure 8s and Other D&E Characteristics?
People also ask why there isn't a filter for figure 8s, or every other recognized D&E construction characteristic. My question is: what would that search actually accomplish?
True D&E figure 8s are a useful construction clue, but they're found on many different designs. Searching for them could return a large assortment of jewelry without helping you locate your particular design. And not all D&E jewelry has figure 8s, so their absence cannot rule out a piece.
The same principle applies to other general construction clues. A feature may help identify D&E manufacture without being a helpful filter for finding an exact design. A specific, distinguishing detail can narrow the search; a feature shared by many unrelated pieces often cannot. This is an important difference between learning to recognize D&E construction and finding one particular item in IIJJ.
Why I Usually Skip the Color Filter
Color is generally a poor starting filter. D&E made the same designs in multiple color combinations, and IIJJ may have a matching design recorded only in another color. If your brooch is green but the database example is blue, selecting green may hide it. Start with the design and construction; use color later only if it helps narrow an overly large result set. Don't let the color of your jewelry eliminate a perfectly good match in another color.
What the New Keyword Search Really Finds
The search bar searches both the original filter values selected for each entry and words in the written descriptions, as well as IIJJ reference numbers. If you type an original filter term into the search bar, it will find all entries with that filter value selected—even when the description never uses that word. But a word that was not one of the original filters can be found only if it was written in an entry's description. The search bar does not examine photographs to recognize features that weren't recorded.
“Watermelon” is a good example. Collectors use that name for the vitrail stone treatment, but watermelon was not an original IIJJ filter. Those stones were recorded under Multi-Color/Shaded in the Stone Type filters. Searching for “watermelon” may find descriptions using that word, but it won't find every example. Searching for “vitrail” also depends on whether that word appears in a description. However, searching by the original Multi-Color/Shaded filter value will find entries with that value selected, including ones whose descriptions never mention watermelon or vitrail. You will still need to examine the results to identify the relevant designs.
Why are some descriptions more useful for keywords than others? When we initially loaded about 5,000 entries, many people helped, and descriptions varied from brief to detailed. We didn't have keyword search then, so nobody was writing descriptions for it. We've since made new descriptions more detailed, but older entries still reflect the original system. Not finding a word is not the same as not finding the jewelry.
Found Something Similar? Compare the Actual Design
A similar photograph is not an exact match. To identify a piece through a documented D&E example, the design and construction need to match; the color may differ.
Compare both front and back: the sizes and positions of stones, settings, metalwork, connections and reverse construction. Even one open-backed stone where the documented example has a closed-back setting can establish that the designs are not exactly the same. Do not stop at the front photograph just because the color and overall look seem right.
A similar piece is a lead for further research, not proof of D&E manufacture. And if you find no exact match, that doesn't automatically mean your piece isn't D&E. The database doesn't contain every design the company made. For an example of examining one clue in context, read The D&E Pin Stop: An Important Juliana Identification Clue.
Don't Forget the NDE Files
No Juliana identification search is complete without checking the NDE (Not DeLizza & Elster) files. IIJJ provides documented D&E examples; the NDE albums show jewelry known not to be D&E, including pieces that can fool collectors.
Before settling on an attribution, compare your jewelry—front and back—with the NDE reference albums. An exact match there is strong reason to reject a D&E identification. But failing to find a piece in NDE does not prove that D&E made it, either. These files are as important to the identification process as the positive examples.
“Google Says It's Juliana” Isn't Identification
Google Lens, internet searches and AI tools may suggest leads, but they are not authentication. In my experience, Google Lens often returns jewelry that merely looks similar. A confident result may also repeat an incorrect attribution from an online listing.
Even when a search finds an IIJJ photograph, that does not mean it has checked every IIJJ record or compared the construction. The difference between an open-back and closed-back setting may not even be visible from the front. And a matching color scheme is no substitute for matching the construction. Use search tools to find possibilities; use documented designs and close comparisons to make an identification.
Why Can't Everyone Submit Jewelry Directly?
Paula and I have discussed opening the database to direct public submissions, but every proposed addition needs careful review. Handling unrestricted uploads would be more work than we could reasonably manage.
The redesigned database has an approved-contributor system, but in practice Paula and I are essentially its only two approved contributors. Potential discoveries can be discussed in our private, invitation-only Juliana Study Group, where knowledgeable collectors can examine them together. Many eyes are better than two! Discussion does not guarantee inclusion: IIJJ is a curated identification reference, not an open photo gallery. We want new information to be useful and well examined before it becomes part of the public archive.
Use Both Search Methods—and Check Both Sides
Start with the filters you know, adjust them when you get too many or too few results, and use keyword searches as another way to discover possibilities. Compare the actual design and construction, remember that colors can vary, and always check the NDE files. The purpose of IIJJ isn't simply to find something that looks close—it's to help you make a careful, evidence-based identification.
Want to put these identification clues into practice? Browse Juliana jewelry and compare photographs and construction details with what you learn from IIJJ.
Ready to try? Search the Is It Juliana Jewelry? database.
Return to The Juliana Collector for more educational articles, or visit Our Vintage Rose Jewelry to browse vintage jewelry.