When collectors think about Juliana identification, construction clues such as figure-8 settings, rivets and pin findings often come to mind. But there is another design approach worth looking at: jewelry in which multi-prong settings are a major part of the design.
These predominantly multi-prong DeLizza & Elster designs are not common. And that distinction matters. I'm not talking about a typical Juliana piece that happens to have a few individual multi-prong chatons scattered among its stones. I'm talking about pieces built around this distinctive type of setting.
Two Main Families Worth Learning
In studying these designs over the years, I've found that most belong to two recognizable families: one built around oval multi-prong settings, and another built around round multi-prong settings. There are a few unusual designs that fall outside those two main groups, but learning the families first gives collectors a useful starting point.
Family One: The Oval Multi-Prong Designs
This green brooch from my original training album is a beautiful example of the oval family. The larger emerald-green oval rhinestones are held by a succession of conspicuous pointed prongs, with additional stones surrounding them.
The side view may be even more useful than the front when studying these settings. Notice the height of the stones and how prominently the prongs rise around their edges.
Family Two: The Round Multi-Prong Designs
The round family has a different overall look. In this pink brooch, the large round rhinestones are surrounded by tall, closely spaced prongs. From the front, the pointed metalwork becomes one of the first things you notice.
Another example of this same round multi-prong family is the deep-blue brooch recorded in the Is It Juliana Jewelry database as IIJJ#9722. Its large round dark blue rhinestones are surrounded by the characteristic pointed prongs, while lighter blue navettes and aurora borealis accents give the design a different color and silhouette. Compare it with the pink brooch above: the shared round multi-prong construction is what places them in the same family.
And Then There Are the Exceptions!
Of course, a few designs do not fit neatly into either of the two main families. This unusual blue set is one of them—and I have to admit, it is a design I really do not care for. Its mixture of multi-prong settings, different rhinestone shapes and beads looks quite unlike the D&E jewelry most of us expect to see. In fact, it is a piece I would have questioned on appearance alone.
But here is what makes it important: Frank DeLizza personally confirmed that D&E made this design. It also exists in pink. I have wondered whether it might have been a special order, but I have no evidence that it was, so that idea remains only a possibility—not a documented fact.
I would not create a third design family around a few unusual pieces. But Frank's confirmation is a good reminder that even an unexpected design may have a place in the D&E story.
What About the Small Multi-Prong Chatons?
DeLizza & Elster also used small multi-prong chatons within many other designs. Those individual settings are worth recognizing, but a piece with a handful of multi-prong chatons should not be confused with the less common predominantly multi-prong design families we've examined here.
And multi-prong chatons are not the same construction as the particular two- and three-section 20ss settings often called Figure 8s. The differences matter when identifying Juliana jewelry.
Want to Explore More?
We've focused here on the two main families and a few unusual exceptions. If you enjoy studying construction details, my original training album includes many more front-and-back examples, variations, and jewelry that uses smaller multi-prong chatons.
🔎 Explore my complete Multi-Pronged D&E Jewelry training album on ImageEvent.
As always, remember that a particular style of prong is not, by itself, proof of DeLizza & Elster manufacture. Compare the whole piece with documented examples and consider all of its construction clues.
Explore Juliana construction in the shop. Browse available pieces and look closely at their photographs, settings and metalwork.