I created the following video back in 2013. I have a collection of Trifari ads and have had the pleasure of coming across many wonderful pieces of Trifari jewelry. I plan to work on more videos in the future.

See our Trifari pieces we have in stock

The Trifari jewelry was started by Gustavo Trifari, who came from a family of fine jewelers, and Leo Kraussman in 1918. The partnership was profitable but the business became well-known when they were joined by Carl Fishel in 1925. The company was incorporated after Carl Fishel joined the company and produced many fine jewelry pieces.

Like all businesses the prosperity relied on more than one factor. The team supplied all aspects from the practical knowledge of Trifari to the sales technique of Fishel. The team was enhanced more in 1930 when Alfred Philippe joined the team as a designer and swiftly became head designer. They were lucky to have many exceptional designers work for them over the years although this was not enough to continue as in the 1970’s a lot of the costume jewelers were forced to close. Trifari did not close but the name was sold to Hallmark in 1975 and the company went through two other firms before being bought by Liz Claiborne in 2000.

Since 1937 when the company decided on the name of Trifari as their trademark name every piece of jewelry they produced was marked. They used this as one of their marketing procedures and they were involved in safeguarding their designs from copying. The jewelry trade was transformed from the use of patents for protection to depending on the use of the law of copyright. After 1955 all pieces bore the copyright symbol. Prior to 1937 the firm marked their jewelry with KTF which stood for Kraussman, Trifari and Fishel.

Trifari is one of the shining stars among all costume jewelry makers. The pieces made before 1940 are very popular with jewelry designed by Alfred Philippe the most favored. The enamel clips, the fruit salad parures, the demi –lune flowers or the molded glass gem-stones are ranked notable among the Trifari collections.