Trifari Vintage Jewelry

Trifari Vintage Jewelry Through the Years - Part 2

2010-06-14T22:27:00.003-04:00

Those you have been collecting Trifari Vintage Jewelry for a while are familiar with jewelry from the various eras. For newer collectors, it's helpful to have an overview of Trifari Vintage Jewelry over the years.

In my last post I began a discussion of Trifari during the 1930's and 1940's, and provided a link to design patents filed by Alfred Philippe, which are available on Google Patents. In this post I'll continue with the 1940's and move into the 1950's.

During the 1940's, metals were needed for the war effort, so Trifari, like other costume jewelry manufacturers, produced Sterling Silver pieces. Many of these were ornate fur clips, and figural brooches, like the crown brooch pictured here.

The brooch was produced in three different sizes. This is the largest of the three, at 1 7/8 inch wide by 1 7/8 inch high (4.7 by 4.7cm). The design appears in several popular books, such as "Signed Beauties of Costume Jewelry," by Marcia "Sparkles" Brown and "Warman's Costume Jewelry Figurals," by Kathy Flood. It is also featured in at least one Trifari print ad from the 1940's.

The Sterling is covered with a Gold Vermeil finish, which was quite common during that time. The stones and colored glass cabochons are also typical of designs of the period. In fact, ornate Gold Vermeil or Gold Plated jewelry with colorful rhinestones produced during this time is known as "Retro" Style. Later on this same crown brooch design was produced in non-silver, gold plated metal. Trifari liked to re-use popular designs and often produced multiple variations of the same design.

The back of the brooch shows the Trifari Signature and Patent Number.

Patent Information: The patent for this design was filed by Alfred Philippe on February 12, 1944 and issued on March 28, 1944. The patent document (courtesy of the U.S. Patent Office) can be viewed on this page: Trifari Crown Brooch Patent 137542

Here is another example of Trifari re-using their older designs. This drawing of a Zebra Brooch was submitted with Patent 131242 in 1942:

The same design, with minor variations was produced in later years.

This one in the 1960's:

And another version in the 1990's:

This Shell Pin was patented in 1944, # 137545:

Here is a pin of the same design produced in the late 1950's:

One way to identify the approximate age of Vintage Trifari Jewelry is by the signature. Vintage Trifari Jewelry was always signed - there is no such thing as "unsigned Vintage Trifari Jewelry." For more information about the signatures, view my Guide: Vintage Trifari Jewelry Marks.

There are so many wonderful Trifari designs - I've only had time to upload to my gallery a handful of all of the photos I have. I plan to add more pages to my online gallery as time allows. Here is the link: Collectible Trifari Vintage Jewelry Online Gallery.

Most of the jewelry currently pictured in the gallery is available for sale in my stores:
My Classic Jewelry Etsy Shop
My Classic Jewelry eBay Store

Thank you, and have a nice day!
Christine

Trifari Vintage Jewelry Through the Years - Part 1

2010-06-07T17:16:00.006-04:00

Trifari Vintage Jewelry Through the Years - Part 1

If you collect Trifari Vintage Jewelry, you may already be familiar with jewelry from the various eras. If you are a newer collector who would like to learn to identify the styles and designs, it's helpful to have an overview of Trifari Vintage Jewelry over the years.

As mentioned in my last post, when Trifari hired renowned Fine Jewelry Designer Alfred Philippe in 1930, it began an era of Trifari dominance in the industry, which lasted for many years. Philippe had previously been designing High End Fine Jewelry for companies like Cartier and Van Cleef and Arples, and brought his sense of luxury and style to Trifari. These early Trifari Philippe pieces were meant to replicate the look of Fine Jewelry designs using Costume Jewelry materials.

During the 1930's and 1940's "Diamante" Jewelry was very popular. These styles usually had the look of Diamonds with metals that resembled Gold and Silver or Platinum. The designs were usually very ornate with scrolls and floral spray designs. During that time, dress clips were very popular, and many costume jewelry firms, including Trifari made beautiful ornate. dress clips that had the look of Fine Jewelry and Diamonds. Few of these are in circulation today, however, many of Alred Philippe's patent drawings are available on the Google Patent Search:

Trifari Jewelry Patents Files by Alfred Philippe

The bracelet pictured below is from the early 1950's and includes the scrolled design element that was also popular with the earlier diamante jewelry.

Although this bracelet uses red rhinestones, versions of this design were also produced with clear (diamante) rhinestones and stones of other colors.

Other Examples of Trifari Diamante Jewelry:

Small Trifari Diamante Butterfly Pin, circa late 1940s to early 1950's

Trifari "Twinkle" Star Brooch and Earrings Set, Christmas, 1952

As mentioned in the last post, Alfred Philippe was head designer at Trifari until his retirement in 1968 and his designs can still be found today among Trifari Vintage Jewelry sellers and collectors. Additional Trifari Vintage Jewelry designed by Alfred Philippe and other designers will be featured in future posts, along with more photos.

Figurals have always been popular and continue to be so today. Trifari was also well known for its exquisite figural jewelry. I also plan to discuss Trifari figural jewelry and post pictures for your viewing enjoyment. In the meantime, feel free to browse through the Trifari Jewelry available in my stores:
My Classic Jewelry Etsy Shop
My Classic Jewelry eBay Store

Thank you, and have a nice day!
Christine

Trifari Company History

2010-05-07T13:55:00.022-04:00

The Trifari Company was founded by Gustavo Trifari, an Italian immigrant who arrived at Ellis Island from Napoli in 1904 at the age of 20. In 1910 he founded "Trifari and Trifari" with his uncle. Gustavo's uncle left the company a few years later, and Gustavo continued the company under the name of "Trifari." It's no wonder that Italian collectors love to buy Trifari Vintage Jewelry, as Gustavo is one of their own.

Leo Krussman joined Trifari in 1917, and Carl Fishel joined as head of sales in 1925. The company name was then changed to "Trifari, Krussman and Fishel" and the logo "KTF" (with an enlarged "T" at the center). Trifari Vintage Jewelry pieces from this era are extremely rare.

In 1930 Trifari hired Alfred Philippe as head designer, and that is when the company began to really take off. Philippe's background designing very high end fine jewelry for firms like Cartier and Van Cleef and Arples brought a wonderful sense of luxury and style to the company. The Trifari Vintage Jewelry Designs he created have the style and glamour of fine jewelry and were very popular.

Charming Vintage Trifari Elephant Pins designed and patented by Alfred Philippe for Trifari in 1952:

Philippe continued to work at Trifari until his retirement in 1968. I'll discuss Alfred Philippe and other Trifari Vintage Jewelry Designers in future posts, along with some photos of their jewelry.

In the 1940's the company name was changed back to "Trifari" and the famous Trifari Crown logo was stamped on the pieces. For detailed information and photos of Trifari Vintage Jewelry Marks, see the guide on my web site: Trifari Jewelry Marks.

Trifari continued to be run by its founder and sons until 1975, when the company was sold to Hallmark Jewelry Company. In 1988 the company was sold to Crystal Brands, and in 1994 sold to Chase Capital Partners and Lattice Holding Company, a division of the Monet Group. During that time, high end, collectible Trifari jewelry was produced for sale on QVC. Many of these were Limited Editions, and collectors highly prize them as the last of the signed Trifari Jewelry.

In 2000 the Monet Group was purchased by Liz Claiborne and production was moved overseas, which brought an end to the high quality signed Trifari jewelry. Liz Claiborne Inc. continues to produce Trifari jewelry overseas, but these are lesser quality unsigned pieces that are on Trifari cards.

I'll be creating a page on my web site with photos of Trifari designs from the various eras. Until then, please enjoy browsing my stores for collectible Trifari Vintage Jewelry, as well as Beautiful Vintage Jewelry from other designers, at the following links:
My Classic Jewelry Etsy Shop
My Classic Jewelry eBay Store

Collecting Trifari Jewelry

2010-04-30T19:39:00.004-04:00

I've been buying and selling Trifari Vintage Jewelry for several years now, and I've learned a lot about the company and its jewelry designs. I'd like to share with others who also have a passion for Trifari Vintage Jewelry, so I created this blog.

There are several reasons why I like dealing in Trifari Vintage Jewelry.

The designs are really beautiful
The workmanship is outstanding, especially the figurals
There's such a variety - I'm always finding pieces I've never seen before
Vintage Trifari Jewelry is always signed, so it's easy to identify and date

One thing I like about buying and selling Trifari Vintage Jewelry is that I get to wear and enjoy the pieces for a time, then pass them along to someone else who will love them as much as I do.

If you are new to collecting Vintage Jewelry, it can seem very overwhelming. I hope that the information I pass along in this blog will be helpful.

The first thing to know is that all Trifari Vintage Jewelry is signed. There may be a very rare case of an early (pre 1930's) unsigned Trifari, but that would be a very unusual exception to the rule. Trifari did run print ads to inform customers that "if it isn't signed, it isn't Trifari." Lesser companies did copy designs from the major jewelry makers, so it's not unusual to find a piece that looks like a Trifari design, but is not signed. It's not an "unsigned Trifari" - it's a lesser quality knockoff.

The next thing to know is that the signature helps to date the jewelry. I've written a guide to identify Trifari signatures on my web site. You can view the guide at this link: Trifari Jewelry Marks.

In future posts I'll give some historical background about the Trifari Company and discuss specific lines of Trifari Vintage Jewelry. I've got lots of photos to share, also, and I hope you will enjoy the many beautiful designs.

In the meantime, feel free to browse my stores for collectible Trifari Vintage Jewelry, as well as Beautiful Vintage Jewelry from other designers, at the following links:
My Classic Jewelry Etsy Shop
My Classic Jewelry eBay Store