History of Trifari

Trifari is rich in history producing some of the finest costume jewelry ever made. Today it is highly collectable. Trifari jewelry history is as intriguing as their jewelry.

In 1910 the story of Trifari began. Gustavo Trifari and his uncle joined forces in 1910 when they were known as "Trifari and Trifari". Just a few years later Gustavo’s uncle departed from the company and the company then became known as just "Trifari". In 1917 Leo Krussman joined Trifari,and in 1925 Carl Fishel joined Trifari as the head of the sales department which was then renamed "Trifari, Krussman, and Fishel."

In the early part of 1930 Afred Philippe a top notch designer from Cartier, joined Trifari as head designer. Philippe was instrumental in turning Trifari into a profitable company in just a few years. His designs in the art deco period were extremely popular and because he was able to work with less expensive metals he was able to design the overly large flower pins and the fruit salad jewelry.

During this period Trifari designs were created to resemble the fine jewelry of the time. As time went on the designers became more flamboyant often creating outrageous designs.

However, their main production always focused on resembling fine jewelry. During the 1940’s Philippe’s jewelry was “the best”. There was no designer who had more influence on the fashion industry.

Afred Philippe's spent 4 decades with Trifari from the 1930s until his retirement in 1968. Starting as head designer and eventually becoming the president of Trifari, he lead the company as the leader in the costume and high fashion jewelry industry

From 1910 to 1975 Trifari was ran by the originating founders and sons of those founders
In 1975 Trifari was purchased by Hallmark Jewelry Co.
In 1988 Trifari was purchased by Crystal Brands
In 1994 Trifari was purchased by Chase Capital Partners, a Lattice Holding Co., a division of the Monet Group
In 2000 the Monet Group, was purchased by Liz Claiborne. Liz Claiborne then moved operations to Puerto Rico
Trifari, is now an off shore operation

There were several well known designs who designed for Trifari over the years.:

1930-1968 - Alfred Philippe
1930-1940 - Alfred Spaney
1930-1940 - David Mir
1940 - Norman Bel Geddes
1940 - Joseph Wuyts
1958 – 1965 Jean Paris
1967 – 1979 Andre Boeut
1971 – 1974 Diane Love
1970s - Jonathan Bailey
1980-1990 - Marcella Saltz - Most of her pieces were signed

Trifari produced several lines of jewelry

1932 Gainsborough
1945 Jewels of Tanjore
1946 Talisman
1948 Moghul
1949 Scheherazade
1949 Day and Night
1950 Orientique by Trifari
1951 Gems of India
1952 Coronation Jewels
1952 L'Opera
1954 Evening Star
1958 Pins à la Mode
1958 Triege by Trifari
1959 Sorrento
1959 Etoile
1960 Fantasia by Trifari
1965 The Jewels of India
1966 Trifari's Fireworks
1968 L' Orient, 1968Trifari Light
1969 White Enamel Collection
1972 Ming Collection
1972 the Diane Love Collection
Trifari Signatures were as follows:
- 1920 –Jewels by TRIFARI with thecrown over T in Trifari - used as a label
- 1932 - Gainsborough - the printed version was used to ID collections
- 1935 - KTF – used on metal"
- 1935 - KTF. With a taller T than other letters – used on metal
- 1936 - CLIP-MATES – used as a label
- 1937 - TRIFARI with out the crown above T - used on metal
- 1939 - TRIFARI with crown above the T - used on metal
- 1950 - Orientique by TRIFARI - used as label to identify collection
- 1953 - Ear-Mates in script - used as label
- 1954 - T with open detailed crown on top - metal hang tag
- 1954 - KTF with crown over T - used on KTF Industrial Products
- 1957 - TIE-UPS - used as label
- 1957 - Tie-Ups by TRIFARI in script and crown over T in Trifari - used as label
- 1958 - Triege by TRIFARI in script with crown over T in Trifari - label used to ID collection
- Current - TRIFARI TM - used on metal The Crown above the T has been changed many times over the years both on hang tags and labels. The first metal hang tags on items were fancy open cut and had fine detail work. The paper label T hang tags were often close to the original but varied from a tall and slender T to a shorter and broader version with different style of the crown.
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Sher from Estate Jewelry International have been serving customers for over 20 years, providing affordable estate jewelry, and a wealth of information on jewelry, fashion, designers, and beauty with on staff industry professionals. Please visit us at Estate Jewelry International