In 1947, William DeLizza and Harold Elster founded 'DeLizza & Elster', also known as D&E, in New York. Their idea was to design and manufacture costume jewelry and accessories for customers looking for a little sparkle after the austerity of World War II.

Since D&E produced a lot of unsigned jewelry, identification can be difficult. Signature construction techniques to look for include soldered pins on brooches and figure-eight "cups" to hold the rhinestones.

In 1967, D&E decided to create its own brand by attaching paper cards with the words "Juliana Original" to some pieces. Not all of D&E's Juliana pieces were tagged, and none of them were signed on the pieces themselves. The problem of definitively identifying a vintage Juliana piece is compounded by the fact that the brand has barely lasted two years. Still, the word Juliana is synonymous with DeLizza & Elster today in the minds of many fans of vintage fashion jewelry.