Trifari Brooch Design: What is this? Fruit, Vegetable or Crazy Octopus

Even if you do not know me, you actually may have met me or some other doppelganger while walking down a street with various shops. I am a window-shopper, a looky-loo, or a "Hey! Look at that Shiny thing!" kind of gal.  Not that I spend loads of money on stuff, in fact, I am quite the opposite, I like to find a few small items, preferably collectibles and then I let them loose and set them free trying to find the right owner for them.

Recently, I have been blessed to have 3 thrift stores in close vicinity to where I work, the biggest plus is that I actually clean out my closet on a fairly regular basis, I take one or two things here and there and I see my closet shrinking.  This immediately makes me really very happy! I do not keep kick-knacks and hate clutter. Having these stores also allows me to browse and look at books I would never bother to go into a store for, look at art, find a little history and on the rare occasion I may find something different or small that I find intriguing enough to buy with the thought that I will not keep it. The rule is simple, you cannot have more than 10 items that have been purchased, and if you bring 3 home, you must immediately take 3 things out.

Today, I finally found something unique, quirky and even had the name Trifari on it, it was a brooch, I am not sure what it actually is, and the debate at work is that some think it is a pineapple, some think it is maybe an Echinacea  flower and others think it is an acorn.   I don't know who Trifari is, but I remembered it from somewhere, certainly this item was not that inexpensive but there was something intriguing about trying to figure out what it was. So, with cell phone in hand and since I don't own a loupe, I took several pics of it so that I could enlarge the name stamped on the inside, that is how I was able to see the name.

Trifari Goldtone Brooch

I did some research and found so many useful sites, as far as, basic knowledge of who Trifari was and I could approximately date my piece between 1955-1969, from what it indicates my brooch would be referred to a Crown Trifari Brooch because of this stamp which has both the crown and the copyright stamp on it.  I was able to find this information from a person who has a store on EBay, it was most informative on how to recognize the marks. You can find the link Trifari Vintage Jewelry: Identification and Marks
 
I do have a thing for brooches, my Mother wore one her whole life. It was the best piece of jewelry she owned, even if it was just costume. It was delicate, 2 birds flying together, and in the right light, little glints of gold and diamond sparkle would shine from it. I have this brooch now and I wear it as she did.  I am proud to have it.

Who knows, maybe one day I will open up shop on Etsy, I probably do not have enough stock to do that though so I will stick with good old Craigslist!

So, what have you found that you think is special or unique?  Have you ever found anything that you thought was just interesting and you have never given it up? 

And what do you think the brooch is? Is it a fruit, vegetable, flower or octopus with a wicked allergic reaction on his head?