Trifari Jewelry: A Legacy of Artistry & Innovation (1910-1975)

Founded by Gustavo Trifari and his uncle in 1910, Trifari was
first known as “Trifari and Trifari”. Gustavo’s uncle departed
from the company a few years later and the company then became
known as “Trifari”. In 1917 Leo Krussman joined Trifari, in 1925
Carl Fishel joined Trifari as the head of the sales department.
The company was then renamed “Trifari, Krussman, and Fishel.”
Trifari is rich in history.

• 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

In the early part of 1930 Afred Philippe joined Trifari as head
designer. He was a top notch designer who had worked with
companies such as Cartier. 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

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.