A glorious 1970s ‘Fred Paris’ or ‘Fred Joaillier’ gents wristwatch
The son of Alsatians, Fred Samuel was born in Buenos Aires in 1908 and arrived in Paris at the age of 16. At 28 he opened a shop in the eighth arrondissement
In December 1941 the shop was placed under the control of the Commissariat-General for Jewish affairs, which affixed a yellow star to the shop front and forced the removal of the name ‘Samuel’ from the sign. Samuel kept only the first name ‘Fred’ on the shop window ‘perhaps as a challenge, perhaps so as not to forget those monstrous hours, perhaps also maintain the benefit of a healthy anonymity’
From the 1960s the company built its reputation by collaborating with renowned artists such as Jean Cocteau and Bernard Buffet
In 1976 Samuel became jeweller to the Royal Family. Throughout the years Fred jewellery attracted French celebrities such as Maurice Chevalier, Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon and Johnny Halliday
This elegant wristwatch from Fred features a classically elegant white dial decorated with black Roman numerals and the ‘FRED’ lettering at 12 o’clock
The clean gold plated octagonal case, reminiscent of the Cartier Ceinture, features a stepped bezel and recessed synthetic onyx set winding crown
Fitted to the brand new black pressed leather strap is the gold plated ‘J.ERBÉ’ stamped deployant buckle. The strap remains unfinished to allow for cutting to the desired length
The 17 jewel Swiss made manual wind movement has been fully serviced. It runs smoothly and keeps good time
Case width - 27mm
Case height - 29mm
Lug width - 16mm
Strap length including head - 20.5cm
