Fred
Born in 1908 to French parents who had emigrated to Argentina, Fred Samuel grew up in Buenos Aires. His father, a gem dealer, pushed Fred to move to France which he did at 16 to study jewelry. He married his wife Thérèse Halphen with whom he would go on to have two sons, Henri and Jean, the first born in 1936. This was the same year he opened his boutique on the rue Royal. At the outbreak of War he joined the Foreign Legion. When he returned to the business he was forced by the General Commissariat of Jewish Affairs to place the yellow Star of David in his shop window. They also made him remove his surname, Samuel, from all signage. Fred left Paris for the Free Zone in 1942 but was arrested. He did not make it back to Paris for nearly three years. Thus how he built his name as simply Fred or Fred Paris. The firm established a branch in Monte Carlo in 1976 and Princess Grace and her daughter Caroline attended the opening allowing Fred to become an official supplier to the Royal House of Monaco. Here he acquired the Soleil d’Or, a yellow diamond weighing 105.54cts and the 275ct Ceylon sapphire which he set as the center piece in a diamond tiara and sold in 1980. At this time he also opened a location in New York. Then in 1990 Richard Gere presented Julia Roberts with a blue velvet box in the film Pretty Woman it contained a commissioned ruby and diamond Fred necklace. The firm sold to LVMH group in 1995.
