As its name suggests, the collection was inspired by the founder himself and not only his affinity with light, but also his unique, radiant spirit. The high jewellery pieces are categorised into six chapters: Creative Instinct, Pretty Woman Generous Heart, Pain de Sucre Joyful Attitude, Force 10 Winning Spirit, Soleil D’or Radiant Energy and Chance Infinie Faith in Destiny, with each paying tribute to a different facet of his effulgent personality; celebrating the man who set out to be a creative modern jeweller and expressing his inner light.

And who better to illustrate these facets of the founder through jewellery than his own granddaughter Valérie Samuel, who is the vice president and artistic director of the Maison? “This collection is quite special to me because it’s celebrating the unique personality of Monsieur Fred: his audacity, his sense of joy, his solar personality, his courage, his faith in destiny. So in that sense, it’s a very specific and unique high jewellery collection,” Samuel shared when we met in Bangkok.

Take Creative Instinct, for example, which speaks to the founder’s bold character. Since the dawn of his career as a jeweller, he had sought and dared to do the unexpected, defying trends and traditions of the trade. During his training at age 16 with the Worms brothers—known to be the first importers of cultured pearls in France—he developed a passion for cultured pearls, which were new to the industry then, and adopted them into his repertoire when he opened his Maison.

“Some people at the time, in the 1930s, were against cultured pearls because when you have innovation and novelty, there’s a tendency to be afraid,” Samuel explained. “So we’re celebrating his audacity; the fact that he was really one of the first to introduce cultured pearls.” In homage to that, organic bouquets of pearls with a slightly pinkish‑white lustre beloved by Monsieur Fred make up this chapter of necklaces, bangles, rings and earrings, set on asymmetrical lines of white gold with brilliant‑cut diamonds.

Carrying on her grandfather’s legacy, Samuel made a bold and unconventional move in September last year: she launched the brand’s first lab‑grown diamonds. Called Fred Audacious Blue, they were created to boast the Maison’s fancy vivid Riviera Blue, a shade that took 18 months to perfect in the diamonds and is enhanced by Fred’s signature Hero cut, which has 36 facets. “It was firstly a creative statement because I wanted to make a full jewellery set with stones that could express the true beauty and intensity of the sea and its colour, which was so dear to Monsieur Fred,” Samuel said, adding that this effect was only possible with coloured diamonds. “But coloured diamonds are very rare; only one out of every ten carats is coloured, so it’s incredibly difficult to get the perfect blue shade. That’s why we went [the lab‑grown route], and the density and the sparkle within the stone is magical.”

Given that not many of the brand’s peers use lab‑grown gemstones, Samuel’s approach was not unlike that of her grandfather acting on his affinity with cultured pearls back then and she believes he would approve of the innovation. “I always make that comparison of how he was capable of believing in the cultured pearl in the ’30s; he was always in the know,” she said. “It’s in the spirit of the Maison to be a pioneer in this way and there’s a purpose for the innovation, so I’m sure he’d appreciate that.”

MAKING A SPLASH

Another one of her grandfather’s beliefs that Samuel wanted to honour in the Monsieur Fred Inner Light collection was the notion that jewellery is made to be worn every day—not just on special occasions—and should offer as much versatility as possible. Accordingly, there are several transformable pieces across the collection that can be worn in different ways. The Pretty Woman Generous Heart necklace, for example, can be worn long or as a shorter, double‑tour necklace by adjusting the fastening of the chains. It can also be worn as a bracelet. Allowing the wearer to further style it as they please, the piece comes with five detachable charms, each composed of several heart‑shaped motifs, with the biggest even boasting a reversible heart‑within‑a‑heart pattern.

“My grandfather’s vision was to offer jewellery that you can wear. Providing versatility and transformability creates much more freedom in wearing the piece,” said Samuel. “In Monsieur Fred Inner Light, we went quite far in offering many transformability solutions that work and are easy to wear.”

During the showcase in Bangkok, the Pretty Woman Generous Heart necklace adorned the neck of a male model, which attests to another element of the Maison’s versatility: its creations are made for everyone and not confined to any gender.

One of the collection’s show‑stoppers comes from the Pain de Sucre Joyful Attitude chapter, which was inspired by the pure joie de vivre that Monsieur Fred found in the sun and sea of the Mediterranean. Featuring mosaics of stones in graduating blue hues, the pieces, Samuel shared, are designed to evoke the shimmer of the water’s surface in a swimming pool reflecting the light of the noon sun overhead. The Maison’s artisans used a doublet technique to achieve this effect, layering rock crystal cabochons in shades of blue on top of precious, fine and ornamental stones such as diamonds, aquamarines, turquoises, lapis lazuli, chrysocolla, dickites, sodalites and mother‑of‑pearl. The blue rock crystals are cut into sugar‑loaf shapes for more depth and light to penetrate, reflecting off the bottom stones, reminiscent of dappled light on water.

“I think what’s most beautiful about the collection is that we’re able to celebrate the inner light of Monsieur Fred and the inner light of every one of us,” Samuel said. “My grandfather really cherished all the encounters he had with others and his life was very rich because he was truly living in every moment. The inner light of those he met nurtured his inner light, and it’s what also makes this collection special.”

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