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Who is Trifari?

Dates of Operation- Dates of Operation- 1918 to today

Design Characteristics - use of Swarovski multi colored rhinestones, Plating that looks a lot like real gold, Jelly Belly Animals, Brushed Goldtone and silvertone settings, Trifari Clip mates

Gustavo Trifari learned the jewelry business in Italy from his grandfather. He immigrated to the USA in 1904 and partnered with his uncle, Ludovico Trifari to produce a company called Trifari and Trifari in 1910. Two years later, Gustavo left this business to start his own business which specialized in accessories. In 1918, he partnered with Leo F. Krussman and founded the Trifari and Kussman company. Gustavo created the designs and Krussman was in charge of the marketing of them.

In 1925, the two men combined resources with Carl Fishel to form Trifari, Krussman and Fishel. The jewelry marketed by this company used the mark KTF with a taller T than the other letters. (There was also a line stamped KTF with a crown over the T made in 1954, but it is not as valuable as the earlier KTF pieces.

From 1930 to 1968 Alfred Philippe was the top designer for Trifari jewelry. The line called "Jewels by Trifari" was launched in 1938. A few years later, metals became scarce for manufacturing jewelry, due to the war, so Trifari used Sterling silver for many designs during this time. A few years later, in the 1940s, they patented a plating process called Trifanium. This plating method made the material look like real gold or silver and helped to maintain the condition of the metal over time. Trifari pieces are extremely well made and continue to stay in wonderful condition generations later.

The Trifanium finish is shown in this pair of strawberry earrings from 1962. The detail is fabulous.

It was also during the war years that Trifari produced the famous Lucite "Jelly Belly" pins. Many people market a wide variety of jewelry as jelly belly, but true Jelly Bellies have DuPont lucite clear acrylic bellies. These pieces are figurals, such as birds and fish and are very rare and highly valued.

Trifari continued manufacturing during the 1950s-1960s. After this, it traded under a variety of companies. The company was sold to Hallmark, Inc in 1975 and then again to Crystal Brands Jewelry Corporation in 1988. Finally, in 1994 it was purchased by a division of the Monet group. This group was then sold to Liz Claiborne industries and Trifari jewelry continues to be made by this company, although the jewelry is no longer manufactured in the United States.

Value of the pieces today

Trifari pieces are fairly easy to find in good condition since the quality of the jewelry was so good, so there is no reason to buy pieces that aren't in good condition, unless they are very rare early pieces, such as those marked KFT or the jelly bellies or clip mates. The most affordable Trifari pieces are those from the 1950s and 1960s. Also look for Pieces marked Trifari Pat. Pend, which were designed by A. Philippe.

Design Mark - Trifari used several different design marks. The following chart shows some images, descriptions of the hallmarks and approximate dates.

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