Free Shipping to the United States & Canada

Please note that I am not acquiring additional inventory at this time. I do not provide appraisals or identification services, nor do I answer specific questions about your jewelry. I invite you to learn about vintage costume jewelry by visiting these pages.

For press inquiries or requests for a publication or speaking engagement, please use the Press & Speaking Inquiries form.

Gemstone Fruit Salad 1930s Clip-Mates by Trifari
Trifari Fruit Salad Brooch or Pair of Dress Clips
Trifari fruit salad dress clips
Back of Clip-Mates
Pair of dress clips with brooch mechanism
Open dress clip with brooch mechanism
Maker's Mark: Clip-Mates

Gemstone Fruit Salad 1930s Clip-Mates by Trifari

$ 795

Additional information

Maker

Trifari
Size

2 1/4" x 1 5/8"
Condition

Excellent
Date

1936-1937 (based on mark and issue of first fruit salad series, per Brunialti)
Marks

"CLIP-MATES" and "KTF" (barely visible on one clip back)
Reference

Utility patent # 2,050,804 (for brooch mechanism) issued to Alfred Philippe in 1936

This Trifari fruit salad piece was designed by Alfred Philippe. It features the company’s popular trio of acorn-shaped, molded glass to imitate carved gemstones (rubies, sapphires, and emeralds). This design is one example of Trifari’s Clip-Mates, their answer to Coro’s Duette. This piece can be worn 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 early piece is rhodium-plated metal with diamanté accents. The pin closes with a roll-over safety clasp. You can see the utility patent for the brooch mechanism here, shown below Trifari’s name. Scroll down to see a fruit salad bar brooch, also by this maker but with stones in a different shape.

In stock

Add to my Wishlist
SKU: 1025 Categories: , , Tag:
000

  • $ 250
    Add to cart

    Gemstone Fruit Salad Art Deco Bar Brooch by Trifari

    , ,
    $ 250

    Gemstone Fruit Salad Art Deco Bar Brooch by Trifari

    , ,
    This 1930s bar brooch features a line of teardrop-shaped ruby, emerald, and sapphire-glass stones topped with and surrounded by diamanté. The molded glass was used by costume jewelry makers to imitate the Indian-carved gemstones – known as fruit salads or tutti frutti – which were so popular in the Art Deco era. Trifari made their first fruit salad pieces in the late-1930s, typically using acorn-shaped stones. This piece has the popular trio of colors but in a different shape with an added gem: the company called cabochons with a diamanté center shoe-buttons. The design of this rhodium-plated setting is similar to pieces from the company's Ming series in the 1930s. The pin closes with a roll-over safety clasp. This brooch goes with just about everything! Scroll down to see an early Trifari fruit salad double-clip brooch (Clip-Mates) in the same colors.
    $ 250