FRED Jewelry | 90 years of going beyond #FREDTheSunshineJeweler #FRED90Celebration #Force10

Key Highlights

• FRED, founded in 1936, marks 90 years as a Parisian fine jewellery house defined by sport, creativity, and the sea.
• The Force 10 bracelet was born in 1966 when Henri Samuel wrapped a worn sailing halyard around his wife’s wrist and had it finished with a gold clasp.
• Named after the tenth level on the Beaufort scale, the piece blends steel and gold in a genderless, avant-garde design.
• Force 10 has grown into a full collection featuring interchangeable cables and buckles, worn by both men and women.
• FRED‘s partnership with Roland Garros carries the brand’s sporting ethos into the present day.

Nine Decades of a Jeweller Shaped by the Sea

Since 1936, FRED has occupied a distinct position among Parisian fine jewellery houses — one shaped less by tradition for its own sake and more by a restless desire to go beyond. Founder Fred Samuel brought to his craft a natural determination drawn equally from sport and artistic creation, a dual influence that would prove defining for every piece the maison produced. That founding spirit was not simply a brand story; it was a lived ethos passed directly to the next generation.

Fred Samuel’s sons inherited that ethos with particular force. They became accomplished sailors and earned the distinction of European champions in the Flying Dutchman class, a high-performance sailing discipline demanding exactly the discipline, courage, and competitive will their father had instilled. The sea, for the Samuel family, was not a metaphor — it was a practice. And it was from this practice that FRED’s most iconic creation would eventually emerge. The brand’s official heritage charts this journey from sport to jewellery with remarkable coherence.

The Birth of the Force 10 Bracelet

In 1966, during a dinner with his sailing crew, Henri Samuel — Fred Samuel’s oldest son — picked up a worn halyard and wrapped it around his wife’s wrist. The gesture was spontaneous, but the idea it sparked was anything but. He brought the concept to the workshop with a clear instruction: finish it with a gold clasp. The result was the Force 10 bracelet, a design that merged the functional rope of a working sailboat with the refined materials of fine jewellery.

The name is deliberate and precise. Force 10 on the Beaufort scale designates a storm at sea — an extreme, powerful natural event. For a bracelet born from a love of open water and athletic challenge, no name could be more fitting. The bold combination of steel and gold gave the piece an immediately avant-garde character, and its genderless design ensured it carried meaning and wearability across boundaries that much fine jewellery of the era did not cross.

A Collection That Continues to Evolve

What began as a single bracelet has since expanded into a full collection. Today, Force 10 is enriched by multiple interchangeable cables and buckles, allowing wearers to adapt the piece across occasions and personal styles. That modularity is not a recent commercial addition — it reflects the same spirit of freedom and practicality that defined the original design. The collection resonates with both men and women, and its presence in markets across the GCC speaks to a clientele that values pieces with genuine narrative behind them.

Sport, Resilience, and Roland Garros

FRED’s connection to sport has never been purely historical. The Force 10 collection today carries the brand’s sporting values forward through its collaboration with Roland Garros, one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. The partnership places FRED alongside an event defined by endurance, precision, and the will to surpass oneself — precisely the qualities Fred Samuel identified as central to both sport and creation. For collectors in the Gulf who follow both luxury jewellery and world-class sport, this alignment carries particular resonance.

The campaign film marking FRED’s 90th anniversary revisits these foundations with archival footage and a clear editorial voice. The FRED 90-year anniversary film draws a direct line from Fred Samuel’s founding conviction to the Force 10 bracelet’s enduring relevance — making the case that the best jewellery is not simply worn but understood. Alongside fine jewellery houses such as VAN CLEEF & ARPELS, FRED represents a tradition of Parisian craftsmanship that continues to find new audiences in the region.

Why It Matters

For luxury enthusiasts and collectors across the GCC, FRED’s 90-year milestone offers more than a moment of heritage reflection — it signals the continued global relevance of a house whose most iconic piece was born not in a design studio but on the deck of a sailboat. The Force 10 bracelet’s genderless appeal, modular construction, and unambiguous character make it a compelling point of entry into fine jewellery for a new generation of collectors who value purpose alongside beauty.

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