Vintage Miniature 1" Trifari Brushed Silver Plated Strawberry Pin Brooch

This vintage Trifari brooch features a beautifully crafted, silver-plated strawberry design. The brooch measures 1 inch in length and is an original piece from the 1950s-1960s era.The brooch is signed by the maker and is in excellent condition. But the true success of Trifari jewelry, and the reason for its collectibility today, is most often credited to French designer Alfred Philippe, the company’s chief designer from 1930 until 1968.Such hand-set pieces often imitated the look of fine jewelry, using sterling silver or vermeil, a gold-plated finish.The company even developed its own non-tarnishing, gold-tone alloy named Triennium. Among Philippe’s countless contributions are the Trifari costume jewelry to look for are the floral brooches from the 1930s and the fruit and vegetable pieces from the 1950s. In particular, collectors like the miniature fruit pins (apples, pineapples, grape bunches, and strawberries, to name a few) from the late 1950s through the 1960s. These single pieces, usually finished in a matte silver or gold, were worn by themselves or in groups. manufacturers during World War II, Trifari was unable to use metal in its products due to rationing. This forced Trifari to switch to sterling silver during the war, which tripled prices for Trifari products (although that didn’t seem to hurt sales). Post-war, Trifari wanted to go back to less costly, maintenance-free metal, but its audience was now used to silver. In 1994, Trifari became part of the Monet Group.