My Juliana Demi Parure and Earrings are Verified!

Those of you who follow my blog know that I often submit jewelry pieces that I believe may be DeLizza & Elster Juliana designs. Juliana Jewelry was not marked on the pieces. They only had paper hang tags which were often discarded.

I recently submitted four pieces - a parure and three pairs of earrings. Two of the earring pairs are still in the verification process, but the demi parure and one pair of earrings have been verified. I am delighted, to say the least.

The demi features a stunning combination of dark blue navette rhinestones and meridian blue aurora borealis stones. All prong set with open backs in a silvertone setting. It is to die for - particularly since I adore blue jewelry, which is my favorite color.

The earrings are no less impressive. They feature interesting hand painted milk glass stones and tabac aurora borealis rhinestones in a goldtone setting. Very layered design with open back settings which are typical of the Juliana design.

You can view the two verified Juliana jewelry items on my Vintage Jewelry Lane website. The set is $125.99 and the earrings are $45.99.

If you would like to view the verification page for the two pieces, the D & E Juliana earrings are on this page - (#63 and #64), and the D & E Juliana rhinestone set is featured here - (#196 and #197).

Let's hope I have as much luck with my other two pairs of earrings. Fingers crossed!

Juliana Jewelry - Verifications are in!

In a later blog post, I will be doing an article about Juliana Jewelry - one of the most collectible designer brands of vintage jewelry. The problem with Juliana is that the pieces were never hallmarked - they only had paper tags which were often discarded.

If you look on ebay, you will find hundreds of pieces of jewelry described every day, for sale as authentic Juliana, which are not genuinely those of this designer. So what is a collector to do?

There is a wonderful site which accepts photo submissions of pictures of pieces that the sender wants to verify. The site them submits them to Mr. DeLizza, who was one of the original founders of DeLizza and Elster who made Juliana Jewelry. Mr Delizza either verifies or denies the authenticity of the piece. Each verification process is done in an album, and then the results are announced. Last month I submitted these earrings for verification. They have many of the Juliana design techniques, so I was hopeful they were genuine.

I will never list an item as Juliana unless it has been verified, or unless it has the design techniques which make it unmistakably Juliana. I find some jewelry types easy to identify - some types of bracelets and earrings are had to miss. But, I find that earrings are very hard to identify, so I recently submitted a pair for verification. Alas - they were not.

The latest verification page is in - you will find Juliana Verification album 13 here. My earrings are #55 and are labeled as not D & E. Never fear though - I have four more pieces, including three pairs of earrings and a set that I am going to submit soon.

The site asks that you do research about Juliana before you submit an item for verification. There are some specific design techniques that should be part of the piece submitted. I'll go into all these later and will also give you the submission procedure at that time. In the meantime, enjoy the verified pieces in the album 13. You will be able to see why Juliana jewelry is so desireable and highly collectible.

What is a Maker's Mark?

Some vintage jewelry designer sign their pieces with various signatures on the back. These are called maker's marks. These markings can be part of the actual metal, or they can be on metal plates which are then soldered to the metal. Sometimes, a piece can be signed in a different way - perhaps on the front or back of a hand painted piece. In this case, the author will sign a piece with paint. However, most marker's marks are done in metal.

These markings are sometimes referred to hallmarks, but a hallmark refers to an indication of metal content found on a jewelry piece. It can be alone or in combination with the mark of the designer. A maker's mark by itself is not considered a hallmark.

Many maker's marks are fairly obvious - they are visible with the naked eye when you turn the piece over. Sometimes, though, a mark can be very tiny and you can find it just about anywhere on a piece, so it is important to examine the jewelry carefully to see if it is marked.

I've seen signatures on the pin part of clasps, in tiny lettering on the edge of the setting, inside of a bale where a pendant hangs from a chain, on a clasp tag, and on an enlarged O ring near the clasp. They are found on the back of the clasps for necklaces and bracelets, on the underside of pendants and pieces of other necklaces, and backs of brooches.

Designers do not always use the same marking. There are many designers who have used four, five, or even more, different marks through the years. The following are photos of a few maker's marks that you may have seen. These are from designers Sarah Coventry, Coro (sterling), Schreiner and Weiss.

In Comparision, the following are hallmarks (some also have maker's marks incorporated into the marking):

Not all vintage jewelry is marked but many are. There are notable designers who used only paper hang tags which were often removed when the piece was worn and then discarded. Juliana jewelry, made by Delizza and Elster, is probably the most well known design of this type.

Other designers marked many of their pieces, but also made some which were not marked. To identify these, one needs a good knowledge of their design techniques. I'll cover some of these in a later blog.

Vintage Jewelry Lane has a wide range of designer signed jewelry. Have a look to see if your favorite designer is featured this month.