Juliana (D&E) - 5 Link Bracelets

Our topic of the day is something that most people seem to think they totally understand and in general really they don't understand.  After all, aren't all 5 link bracelets Juliana (D&E).  The answer to that is NO.  They are not all Juliana (D&E).  There are a number of 5 link designs that are not Juliana (D&E).  Also not all Juliana bracelets have 5 links, they specially made 6 and 4 link bracelets.  However the construction on the 4 and 6 is exactly like the 5 link.


Here are three examples of Juliana (D&E) 5 link bracelets.  Notice the shape of the ovals and the design on the folded over metal between the ovals can vary.  However the folded over metal always meets in the front of the bracelet, not the back, and has a rhinestone or something to cover up that linkage.  Also the metal loops are always oval, not round.

Juliana (D&E) bracelet 
Notice the folded over metal between the oval links is joined in 
the front of the bracelet

Juliana (D&E) bracelet
Notice the folded over metal between the oval links is joined in 
the front of the bracelet

Juliana (D&E) bracelet
Notice the folded over metal between the oval links is joined in 
the front of the bracelet

 Now notice these not Juliana (D&E) bracelets and how their linkages are done.

Not Juliana (D&E) bracelet
Notice the folded over metal between the oval links is looped over the oval
metal and not joined together in the front of the bracelet.  Also notice the end of the bracelet does not have a fold over clasp connected the same way the ovals are connected.

Not Juliana (D&E) bracelet
Notice the folded over metal between the oval links is joined together in the
back of the bracelet not the front of the bracelet like Juliana (D&E)

Not Juliana (D&E) bracelet 
Notice the folded over metal between the oval links is joined together in back of the bracelet not the front of the bracelet.  In this one the links
are round which is also not correct for Juliana (D&E).

To summarize the traits needed to be a Juliana (D&E) 5 link bracelet.

• the folded over metal between the ovals must meet in the front of the bracelet and be covered with a rhinestone setting
• the metal must be oval, not round
• the bracelet must have a large fold over clasp attached to the bracelet with a folded over metal like the other linkages have

Square Wire - Things That Dangle

Today we will discuss the square wire hangers Juliana (D&E) used.  Square wire is how D&E attached articulated items to their jewelry. As in beads, drops, and other things that should move.  

Notice that the hangers that the beads attach to is square.

Usually the square wire is attached to the jewelry with a rivet.

Notice the rivets that are attaching the square wire to the brooch.

Sometimes there was no way to use a rivet in the location that they wanted to put a dangle so they would just solder the same square wire hanger to the jewelry setting.

Notice there is no rivet but they soldered the same finding they usually riveted on to the back of the setting.

There are a handful of D&E items that did not use square wire for attaching things that move and that is because it would have been impossible to use a rivet and square wire in that design.  So they used a setting that had a loop built in.

The bead at the top of the design uses square wire but the ones at the bottom do not since they are attached to navettes.

This last construction shown is very very unusual for Juliana (D&E) and most of the designs you see with this construction are not Juliana (D&E).

Here is a D&E item that does not use square wire for the design.  It would have been impossible to use a rivet with square wire so they used a setting that has a loop already attached

There are other ways of attaching dangles to jewelry and they are not techniques used by Juliana (D&E).

Not Juliana (D&E)
On this one you can see that the hanger the beads are attached to is not square wire.

Not Juliana (D&E)
You can see from the back that the bead hangers are not square wire but instead flat metal loops.
This in this color and others is very very often called D&E.

Not Juliana (D&E)
This design and others very similar is always called Juliana (D&E).  It is not Juliana (D&E).  It is not done with square wire dangle hangers and the construction would have been fine to have them so that tells you it is not Juliana (D&E).

Not Juliana(D&E)
Here is a close up of the necklace.
Notice it does not have square wire riveted to the back of the chaton.  Instead it has chaton settings that have a bead hanger attached to them.

Lets now summarize what we know about square wire.

• If it is square wire, it is Juliana (D&E).  
• If it is not square wire and has a rivet it is not Juliana (D&E).  
• If it has a built in setting with a loop attached and there would have been no way to use a rivet, it might be Juliana (D&E).
• If it does not have square wire and the hanger is attached to the side of the chaton setting then it is not Juliana (D&E).

2 or 3 Section 20ss Chaton Settings - AKA Figure 8 Puddling

The ability to identify 2 or 3 section 20ss chaton settings (AKA Figure 8 puddling) is one of the best ways to determine if an item is Juliana (D&E) or not.  In this post I will help you learn how to identify this important Juliana (D&E) characteristic.

First some history on 2 or 3 section 20ss chaton settings. Mr DeLizza wrote in his book on page 31. 

In 1955, my father had J.I. Manufacturing make us a two-section 20ss setting and a 3 section 20ss setting, straight and curved. This had two advantages, first, you did not have to solder those settings together, and second, the girls could set the stones faster in the multiple settings than in the singles settings.

Close up of the front of a 3 chaton setting.  Notice how the prongs sort of look like fangs unlike regular chatons settings.

So now that we know what figure puddling really is lets look at the photos. As you can see figure 8 puddling has the prongs set on the sides of the stones sort of like fangs and not set evenly around the stone. Note some even have 3 prongs not 4. This setting of the prongs is “key” along with the size of the rhinestones to determine figure 8 puddling. Without both of them then you do not have figure 8 puddling. 

Front of 2 section chaton straight settings all around the edge of the brooch
If it is a straight section of figure 8's all have 4 prongs.

Back of 2 section chaton straight settings
all around the edge of the brooch
If it is a straight section of figure 8's all have 4 prongs.

Front: 3 section curved chaton settings
If it is a curved section the center chaton has 3 prongs.

Back: 3 section curved chaton settings
If it is a curved section the center chaton has 3 prongs.

Now that we know what 2 to 3 section 20ss chaton setting look like.  I have some examples of things that are not 2 ot 3 section 2ss chaton settings.

I AM NOT 2 OR 3 SECTION CHATON SETTINGS.

Yes it does have fang prongs on the front.
However notice the size is wrong, These are not 20ss chatons.
These chatons are 12ss.  So size is very important.  If not 20ss, not matter how they look, they are not D&E 2 or 3 section chaton settings. 

I AM NOT 2 OR 3 SECTION CHATON SETTINGS.

Yes it does have fang prongs on the front.
However notice the size is wrong, These are not 20ss chatons.
Also notice the bottom of the setting is pointed not flat.

I AM NOT 2 OR 3 SECTION CHATON SETTINGS.

There are setting that sort of look like figure 8's on the back but on the front they are multi-pronged.

I AM NOT 2 OR 3 SECTION CHATON SETTINGS.

Yes the back looks sloppy like figure 8's but  there are no fangs on the front, and I have never see a figure 8 done with a pearl. Also the pearls are the wrong size.

Now we can summarize what we have learned about identifying 2 or 3 section 20ss chaton settings (AKA Figure 8 puddling).

• Calling anything with sloppy soldering on the back puddling and identifying that as a Juliana (D&E) trait is incorrect.  Sloppy soldering is not a D&E trait.  2 or 3 section 20ss chaton settings (AKA figure 8 puddling) is the Juliana trait. 20ss is the size of the rhinestone as that is how rhinestones are measured.
• If the prongs on the settings are not done as shown in these photos then it is not 2 or 3 Section 20ss chaton settings
• If the rhinestones are not size 20ss then they are not 2 or 3 section 20ss chaton settings.
• If the back of the setting is pointed then it is not 2 or 3 section 20ss chaton settings.