Page 42 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition May-June 2023

SPARKLING ELEGANCE OF

FRED JEWELLERY

RESONATES IN EYEWEAR

oung Fred Samuel grew His fabulous collections of jewellery that combined
up seeing objects of exquisite craftsmanship with a sense of style that
Ygreat beauty at close embodied casual sophistication in every piece attracted
quarters as his parents had famous personalities including Marlène Dietrich and
set up a business trading Grace Kelly.
precious stones in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, where he was In the early 1950s the Nepalese king and queen
born in 1908. He developed a commissioned him to design jewellery to match the
passion for diamonds, pearls court saris. The rich shimmering silks were his inspiration
and multi-coloured stones, as he mirrored their hues with a vast palette of sapphires
and also an eye for cultivated and diamonds ̶ influences that would stay with him
pearls in particular for which much as the sunlight of his childhood in Argentina and
he would later be recognised love of the sea.
as a leading expert. Fred described himself, in 1936, as a ‘contemporary

In 1936 he founded the creative jeweller’, that was proven time and again,
Maison Fred and opened his through the modernity of his creations – each a piece
first boutique in Paris. Fred’s
creative designs with their
sheer beauty and refinement
challenged traditional jewellery
codes and soon became a
signature of unprecedented
informal glamour and
sparkling casual elegance.
Pearls of a creamy-pink shade
would later become known as
‘Fred-coloured’.

38 | THE INDIAN OPTICIAN | MAY-JUNE 2023 BRANDS