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| Emerald Brooch by Barclay |
The birthstone for May, as well as the stone of the Zodiac for the constellation Cancer, is emerald - a shimmering, green member of the Beryl family.
Thought to bring, and associated with, patience, wisdom, and understanding, Emeralds are often a wonderful gift a wedding or anniversary, as these traits are associated w/stong, everlasting love.
The use of emeralds in jewelry can be traced as far back as to the time of the Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Romans.
The Ancient Egyptians associated emeralds with everlasting youth and often carved sybols of leaves into the gemstones. Ancient Romans thought emeralds to represent fertility and rebirth and associated the gemstone w/the goddess of love, Venus.
Some famous sayings about emeralds include the Biblical Quote: “And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.” And the quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald.”
The company can trace its beginnings back to 1910 when Italian immigrant, Gustavo Trifari, and his uncle began producing jewelry under the name Trifari & Trifari. Gustavo, 2 years later, decided to branch out on his own under the brand name Trifari. Continuing to produce high quality, costume jewelry, that rivaled the real thing, Gustavo met his partner & sales manager, Leo Krussman in 1917. Trifari & Krussman was later formed in 1918. When top salesman Carl Fishel joined the company in 1923, the name changed again to Trifari, Krussman, and Fishel, and the trademark "KTF" was born (the T in the middle is larger than the other 2 letters, denoting the senior partner, Trifari).
Trifari Jewelry is marked, most commonly with what is referred to as the "Crown T" mark. Hallmarks w/a © indicate a production date of post-1955. For an extensive description of Trifari marks, please see