DeLizza and Elster Filigree Ball and Matrix Navette Set|Amazing Adornments Jewel of the Month

DeLizza and Elster Filigree Ball and Coral Matrix Navette Demi Parure

DeLizza and Elster produced some of the most flamboyant costume jewelry, so it is no wonder that we can't go too many months without finding another we feel is suitable to be featured as our Jewel of
the Month.

Now, be honest. How many times have you come across pieces like those shown in the image prior to 2002- 2003? Did you purchase any? If you are a dealer, did you sell any?

What happened in 2002- 2003? The vintage jewelry community found out, thanks to Cheryl Kilmer, [fellow
member of Jewel Collect and Discovering Juliana Jewelry] who produced these pieces and so many other unsigned pieces.

Click
on the image for a larger view and description

I look back at some of my older costume jewelry books and they all show Delizza and Elster jewelry, none attributed. 

Back then, some of us knew to look for open and closed back settings,
thin navettes and five- link pieces as possible D and E Juliana. We also knew that, if you shopped around, just about any rhinestone jewelry with big stones was being called Juliana, not always accurately.

Speaking of books, in her new book, Juliana Jewelry Reference, Ann Pitman states that the orange glass stones are called "Matrix"
Navettes. The filigree balls could be purchased in a half and a whole size.  The half size, shown in the image above, usually had a rhinestone at the center.

The "Matrix" sets were produced in several colors, including jade and hematite. They arrived on the
scene in the early- to mid 1960s.  Designs had different launch dates.

The filigree balls were used with stones other than the Matrix navettes. Below is a brooch using the full round filigree bead with rhinestones and glass. Below
that is a demi-parure also with the full round and rhinestones.

Click on the thumbnails for a larger view

DandE Filigree Ball Jewelry

As you can see from just these pieces, the company could and did take a single style bead and use it in so many different ways. Note the placement of the navettes on both brooches. Now that's creative!  

So, our featured set prior to 2002, would have been just another unsigned set albeit a
stunning piece, therefore commanding MUCH lower price.

I think back to all of the pieces we had over the years, long gone, that we now know was D&E. I admit to selling many of them WAY under their true value price. They were usually the ones with the most unusual stones!   Live and
learn!!

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