When collectors think of Juliana jewelry, wood probably isn’t the first material that comes to mind.
We think of sparkling rhinestones, elaborate settings, dangling beads and colorful glass. But during the later years of DeLizza & Elster, the company experimented with a much wider range of materials—and some of the most unexpected pieces incorporated real wood.
These designs are another reminder that D&E was never simply a rhinestone jewelry company.
Frank Remembered the Wood Designs
Frank DeLizza wrote about polished wood pieces being given to designer Tony Zangara, who used them to create a cuckoo-clock pendant, an owl pendant and an abstract pendant.
That small bit of factory history is especially useful because these pieces look so different from what many collectors automatically think of as Juliana.
Wood became another material D&E could combine with cast metal, chain, plastic and other components to create jewelry that reflected the changing fashions of the 1970s.
The Cuckoo Clock
One of the most unusual designs was a wooden cuckoo-clock pendant.
Frank specifically remembered the design, and an example is also shown in Juliana Jewelry – The Last Generation. Other wood designs are illustrated there as well.
The wooden pieces present an interesting preservation problem. Over the years, the combination of wood and adhesive has not always aged well, and relatively few of some of these designs appear to have survived intact.
That helps explain why collectors don’t encounter them very often today.
An Owl Unlike the Juliana We Expect
This owl is a wonderful example of just how far D&E moved beyond traditional rhinestone construction.
Shaped pieces of polished wood form much of the owl, while a vivid piece of heat-formed plastic fills the center. The materials are held together within a textured gold-tone framework.
Wood, plastic and metal all in one Juliana pendant.
Without knowing the D&E connection, it would be very easy to walk right past a piece like this.
Wood in More Modern Designs
Wood also appeared in much simpler, more geometric jewelry.
These earrings combine round polished wood discs with long open gold-tone drops—a look very much at home in the fashion of the 1970s.
The contrast between the warm wood and the sleek metal gives them an entirely different look from the rhinestone-heavy jewelry most collectors associate with Juliana.
Even a Wooden Bangle
Frank’s account goes a little farther still.
He described curved wood pieces used to create a bangle bracelet, with Harry making a clasp that fit over the wood.
So within this relatively small group we have pendants, figurals, earrings and even a bracelet—all using wood in different ways.
A Different Side of DeLizza & Elster
The wooden jewelry represents only a small part of DeLizza & Elster production, but it tells us something important about the company.
D&E kept experimenting.
As fashions changed, wood, plastic, epoxy, metal tubing, chains and other materials joined the rhinestones and glass stones we most readily associate with Juliana.
Sometimes the pieces that look least like the Juliana we expect are the ones that show us just how varied DeLizza & Elster jewelry really was.