When learning to identify Juliana jewelry, the back of a brooch can tell us quite a bit. One of the things I look for is the pin stop.
DeLizza & Elster almost always used a pin back with a pin stop when they used the three-piece pin back, sometimes called the built-in pin back.
But there is an important distinction:
A pin stop is a clue. It is not proof by itself that a brooch is Juliana.
What Is the Pin Stop?
The pin stop is the small piece of metal positioned near the hinge that prevents the pin stem from opening too far.
On the typical D&E three-piece pin-back construction, this little stopper is something we expect to see.
It is a small detail, but when you are examining an unsigned brooch, small construction details matter.
Seeing a Pin Stop Is Only the Beginning
One of the easiest identification mistakes is taking a single construction feature and treating it as proof.
A brooch having a pin stop does not automatically make it Juliana.
Instead, finding the proper pin stop is one of the first steps. Once you see it, you continue examining the piece for the other D&E construction characteristics that together help establish the identification.
The lesson is not:
Pin stop = Juliana.
It is:
The correct pin stop gives you a reason to keep looking.
What About D&E Brooches Without a Pin Stop?
There are exceptions.
Confirmed D&E pieces without the usual pin stop have been found. We see this primarily on some of the later cast pieces, although a few rhinestone pieces without the normal stopper have also surfaced.
There are several possible explanations. A pin back may have been replaced at some point during the life of the jewelry, or D&E may occasionally have used another type when their usual pin-stop finding was unavailable.
That is another reason we should never identify—or reject—a piece based on one feature alone.
And the One-Piece Pin Back?
D&E also used a different, one-piece pin-back construction, so it is important not to confuse that construction with the typical three-piece pin back discussed here.
The small bar-style pin backs are associated with particular small D&E figural brooches and should be considered separately from the standard three-piece construction.
Look at the Whole Piece
The pin stop is useful because it helps us narrow the possibilities, but Juliana identification has always been about looking at the complete construction.
Check the pin back. Check the stopper. Then keep going.
Look at how the stones are set, how the components are joined, the wire construction, the settings, and the other details that make up the piece.
That combination of clues is far more valuable than any single feature.
And sometimes, one tiny piece of metal on the back of a brooch is exactly where the investigation begins.
Want to study more Juliana brooches? Explore the jewelry currently available at Our Vintage Rose Jewelry and compare the backs and findings with these identification clues.