Trifari Patents
Trifari patents are known the world over due to its high quality Costume Jewelry under the leadership of Alfred Philippe in the 1930s until the most of the 1960s. Trifari patents in costume jewelry set the standards for most of the high fashion costume jewelry industry. About 15% of their jewelry line became very collectible and one should not exclude the other Trifari patents in jewelry they produced. Trifari patents in jewelry items include the Crown pins, sword pins, exotic animal figures, and their line of Mogul, (in late 1940s) and Jewels of India (mid 1960s). Trifari patents in jewelry became the trend setting leader in the rhinestonejewelry industry under their president Alfred Philippe.
The Trifari patents in jewelry are unique in the sense that it was done by an outside designer by the name of Alfred Philippe that lead it to greatness. Trifari was first known as “Trifari and Trifari”, founded by Gustavo Trifari and his uncle in 1910. When Gustavo’s uncle left a couple of years later the company was known as just Trifari. Leo Krussman joined Trifari in 1917 and in 1925, Carl Fishel joined the company as head of sales. They renamed the company Trifari, Krussman and Fishel and their hallmark became KTF. The T in the stamp was in the center as was a custom at the time for the senior or more important name. The company remained stagnant for lack of good designers and the crash of the stock market in 1929.
In early 1930 Alfred Philippe came on board as head designer for Trifari patents in jewelries. A premier designer who worked in fine jewelry for such firms as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arples, who during the depression no longer had the freedom to create the designs that so inspired him because of the economical times. He introduced his crown pin in 1941 but it was not patented because of WW11 till 1944.
The 1941 Trifari crown pin was signed Trifari Sterling and Des. Pat. Pend.,. The Trifari patents were filed again on Feb 12 1944 and was approved on Mar 28th 1944 and issued with the design patent number 137542. These crown pins were re-issued in 1947 in two different sizes in gold wash sterling silver. The crown pin continued to be one of the most favorite items sold by Trifari. It was re-issued in 1951, to 1955, and again in 1960 and in the late 1960s. Changes were later made in the design to the Trifari patents of the crown pin to incorporate pearls into it.
