Editor’s Note
This article previews the Fred 2025 High Jewelry Collection, a celebration of light and color inspired by founder Fred Samuel’s pioneering vision first revealed in 1936.
A journey of brilliant light captured in the Fred 2025 High Jewelry Collection.
In 1936, on Rue Royale in Paris, young jeweler Fred Samuel first unveiled his unique aesthetic of light and color to the world under the majestic Art Deco arcades. His jewelry transcended trends and norms, embracing a freedom that shone brilliantly even in the breath of everyday life—the sunlight over the Mediterranean, the golden beaches of the French Riviera, and the dazzling brilliance of gems witnessed in his childhood Argentina. This High Jewelry collection, inspired by these memories, is composed of two chapters: ‘1936’ and ‘Soleil d’Or Sunrise’. The first chapter, 1936, holds the founder’s memories intact, while the subsequent Soleil d’Or Sunrise expresses the fleeting moment of the sun crossing the horizon, following the golden glow of the Maison’s legendary yellow diamond.
The 1936 chapter takes as its main motifs the elegant, geometric designs of the Art Deco style he loved and the symbolic arched structure of Rue Royale, where the first boutique was located. Perfect symmetry and deliberate asymmetry harmonize with graceful curves, delicately revealing Fred’s modern heritage. This chapter, an homage to the gemstones that were an infinite source of inspiration for Fred Samuel, captures the inherent light and color of three colored gemstones: emerald, sapphire, and ruby.
The first set unfolds around Colombian emeralds mined from the Muzo mine. Representing this, a necklace features a magnetic green color emerald of over 4 carats, surrounded by baguette-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds, capturing structural lines and deep elegance. A ring with an arch design reveals the intense presence of a claw-set emerald. Earrings complete the set by balancing two emeralds in harmony with the necklace.
The second set houses a cushion-cut blue sapphire from Sri Lanka. The necklace, inspired by repetitive arch patterns, completes a silhouette reminiscent of elegant architecture. Grain-set and claw-set diamonds cascade like a waterfall, configured in a drop form housing a 7.13-carat royal blue sapphire. Earrings set with two sapphires reflect the same design details as the necklace, and a ring set with a deep blue sapphire of over 6 carats further elevates its dignity.
The third set highlights the intense light of Mozambican rubies. A choker necklace with a rare pigeon’s blood color ruby set at its center creates a sensual silhouette, harmonizing with pavé-set diamonds following the arch pattern. A ring and earrings set with over 3-carat oval-cut rubies also reflect the same design details, providing a sense of unity. The three pieces together offer an even more intense and impressive light.
For Fred, the sun and light have been an unchanging source of inspiration since its founding. In 1977, the Maison discovered a yellow diamond of over 100 carats and named this gemstone ‘Soleil d’Or’ (Golden Sun), whose dazzling light and color perfectly matched founder Fred Samuel’s vision for jewelry. In 2021, this mysterious yellow diamond, which returned to the Maison’s embrace after many years, still transmits endless inspiration with its brilliant glow. This year, Fred presents the Soleil d’Or Sunrise High Jewelry collection, inspired by the glow of this legendary diamond, embodying the splendor of the sun and the founder’s vision in modern creations.
The Soleil d’Or Sunrise chapter, notable for its graphic curvaceous beauty, captures the sun’s diverse radiance with the theme of sunrise and sunset light. It reproduces the changing colors and light according to the sun’s height with an elegant draping effect, completing delicate variations of light from dawn to dusk. Grain-set yellow diamonds and claw-set white diamonds shape the light that opens the day, with a 2-carat fancy intense yellow diamond set at the center paying homage to the Maison’s legendary yellow diamond, Soleil d’Or. Necklaces, rings, earrings, and brooches feature a sunlight motif combining white and yellow gold, with a radiant-cut white diamond set at the center emitting a dazzling glow. Rings and earrings are completed with a transformable design that can be worn overlapped or separated.
