This Alfred Philippe design with ruby, sapphire and emerald fruit salads (molded glass) and paste accents is one example of Trifari's Clip-Mates, their answer to Coro's Duette. This piece can be worn in two ways: as a brooch or as separate dress clips. The influence of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels on Philippe is evident in the "fruit salad" lines he designed for Trifari in the mid-1930s and early 1940s. The setting of this special piece is rhodium-plated metal, and the brooch has a roll-over safety clasp.
Gold-plated spirals are adorned with sapphire baguette rhinestones and pavé centers on this Duette, Coro's name for their double clip/brooch. It is like a "two for one"! Wear it as a brooch or as separate fur clips. The all-clear rhinestone version of this piece appeared in a 1950 Life Coro ad with the slogan "the perfect jewel of a gift" and with the price of $10.50! (In 1950, the average U.S. family income was $81.48 a week.)
Two rose-gold over sterling silver flowers edged in diamanté with ruby rhinestone centers can be worn together as a brooch or as separate fur clips. This Coro Duette — their name for their double clip/brooch — has matching earrings. This versatile set showcases one of Adolph Katz's brilliant designs from both an aesthetic and engineering point of view. For Duettes that were asymmetrical like this one, the clip/brooch frame had to be customized to work with the particular pair of clips.
