The Trifari Company was founded by Gustavo TRIFARI, an Italian immigrant who arrived at Ellis Island from Napoli in 1904 at the age of 20. In 1910 he founded “Trifari and Trifari” with his uncle. Gustavo’s uncle left the company a few years later, and Gustavo continued the company under the name of “Trifari.” Leo KRUSSMAN joined Trifari in 1917, and Carl FISHEL joined as head of sales in 1925. The company name was then changed to “Trifari, Krussman and Fishel” and the logo “KTF” (with an enlarged “T” at the center) was used to mark the jewelry. Trifari vintage jewelry pieces from this era are extremely rare, as the mark was only used for several years. In 1930 Trifari hired Alfred PHILIPPE as head designer, and that is when the company really began to take off. PHILIPPE's background designing very high end fine jewelry for firms like Cartier and Van Cleef and Arples brought a wonderful sense of luxury and style to the company. The designs he created for Trifari jewelry have the style and glamour of fine jewelry and were very popular. This began an era of Trifari dominance in the industry which lasted for many years. During the 1930s and 1940s “diamante” jewelry was the most sought after style. These pieces had the look of diamonds and other precious gems with metals that resembled gold and silver or platinum. The earlier Art Deco designs featured geometric shapes, while later pieces were very ornate with scrolls and floral sprays, often with colorful enameling. Dress clips were very popular, and many costume jewelry firms, including Trifari, made clips that had the look of fine jewelry and diamonds. Alfred PHILIPPE remained as Trifari’s head designer until his retirement in 1968. In 2000, the company was sold to Liz Claiborne and production was moved overseas. Since then, lesser quality jewelry has been mass produced and sold on Trifari cards without any stamps on the jewelry.