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Read About Trifari's Impressive Past
by Sher Matsen

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.
    
  
  
  
  
  
  

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