History of Trifari Jewelry
Trifari is one of the most sought-after costume jewelry brands. Known for their fashionable style and quality construction, Trifari continues to gain popularity.
Gustav Trifari of Naples, Italy and his uncle, Ludovico Trifari founded Trifari Jewelry in 1910. They originally called their company Trifari and Trifari. Gustav learned the jewelry craft from his grandfather, Luigi and worked as a designer in New York prior to establishing his own company.
In 1912, Ludovico left Trifari & Trifari, and the brand became simply, Trifari. Around1917, Leo Krussman partnered with Gustav Trifari and the company became Trifari and Krussman. In 1925, Carl Fishel joined them, and the company became Trifari, Krussman and Fishel (TKF). Starting in about 1937, the brand became known simply as Trifari.
The Hallmark Company bought Trifari in 1975 and owned it until 1988 when Crystal Brands purchased it. Crystal Brands also owned Monet, Marvella, and various other well-known brands. Crystal owned Trifari until 1994. Chase Capital Partners, Lattice Holding, a division of the Monet Group bought Trifari in 1994. Liz Clairborne purchased the company in 2000 after it went bankrupt.
After 2000, a lower quality jewelry line appeared using Trifari cards, but without Trifari marks. According to the company, genuine Trifari Jewelry was always signed except for jewelry produced during the transition from TKF to Trifari in the 1930s. All Trifari jewelry after that time appears to be marked.
Design
Former Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels designer, Alfred Philippe joined Trifari in 1930. He designed for Trifari until 1968. Philippe brough Trifari to new heights. According to many, his designs are the best Trifari ever offered. He created the tremendously popular Crown and Jelly Belly brooches.
Many Trifari pieces were designed to look like true fine jewelry. Some pieces used sterling silver. Other pieces used Trifanium which was a special alloy used to cast pieces.
Additional Trifari designers included Jean Paris (1958 -1965), Lucius Passavanti (1955 – 1968), Andre Boeut (1967 – 1979), and Diane Love (1971 – 1974).
Collecting Trifari
Vintage Trifari pieces encompass a wide price range. The most popular / rare Alfred Phillippe pieces can fetch hundreds of dollars each. Some Trifari collections have sold for thousands of dollars at auction.
Trifari jewelry used a variety of marks over the years. For dating purposes, Trifari began using J hook closures circa 1947.
The earliest mark was KTF with the T being larger than the other two letters. This was used from about 1925 through the mid-1930s. The mark then switched to Trifari PAT. PEND until about 1955.
The third mark is the very popular Trifari mark with a crown over the T. Known as Crown Trifari, these are the most popular pieces.
The Crown Trifari mark with Pat. Pend. was used until about 1955 at which time a copyright symbol was added to the end of the Crown Trifari mark. The Crown Trifari with copyright symbol was used from about 1955 through the 1960s.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Trifari used a more stylized mark without the Crown but including the copyright symbol.
Then, a more block style with a trademark symbol was used until about 1999.
In 1996, Trifari re-issued some of their older pieces and added the date to the mark.
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