Mono Trees

I "sold" the Trifari bling but you can still see it on flickr :) This was the original blip:

When ebay was an ebaby, back in 1995, I rapidly discovered that anything I could imagine could be found on that website. Needless to say, and since confession is good for the soul, I'll confess that I spent hours bidding on all the signed designer jewelry dating back to the '30's that took my fancy. Everyone thought I was crazy.

But how crazy can one be to love a hunk of a brooch that looks like this? The 1940ish piece is sterling silver overlayed with a gold wash, and a large sapphire cabachon with Swarovski crystals complete the lovely flower design.

The Trifari jewelry company was founded in 1910 but in 1930 Alfred Philippe, who had been designing for Cartier and VanCleef and Arpels, came on board. He introduced the infamous Trifari crown pin in 1941 and the crown motiff over the T in Trifari became their trademark. Trifari's jewelry was advertised in Vogue, and soon became all the vogue for women of the day.

I've been on a tear this week to get everything in my collection cleaned and catalogued for my two sons, before I leave this earthly plane, whenever that might be. They know next to nothing about old costume jewelry but might appreciate the value when they open the safety deposit box. I'd turn over in the grave if I knew they sold the whole mess for a song. Hello! Are you reading this Noel? xo

Maybe tomorrow I'll blip the jelly belly fly...

Dave RI told me the Trifari manufacturing plant was based in Rhode Island so I found an interesting website about the company's internal relationships to the designers and the process. Fascinating read! Trifari Company