An unusual gold letter fetched €13,854 (estimate €5,541 – €7,758) at the Fine Jewels auction on 11 December at Sotheby's London.
From the original jeweler to Hollywood stars, the letter is sealed in red enamel and delivered "By hand, to Feathers, all best love - Fred". Pry the seal open gently with your thumb and the casing springs open. Inside is a clock, its brushed gold face inscribed with a name in black enamel. The name is Flat.
Flato is a name now unknown to most – he is not listed by Marilyn Monroe in her performance of Diamonds Are Girl's Best Friend in the Musical, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and his name appears nowhere in the modern luxury landscapes of Place Vendome , Bond Street or Rodeo Drive. Yet, in an extraordinary career that spanned over six decades, Paul Flato was the true Hollywood jeweler among the stars – a visionary, gifted and charismatic designer who counted Joan Crawford, Merle Oberon, Paulette Goddard, Vivien Leigh, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich among his clientele.
Her jewels articulated a number of different influences, from 20.000th century floral diamond sprays to late Industrial Deco to contemporary Surrealist trends, all infused with a sense of lightness and humor as well as a commitment to impeccable craftsmanship. When this watch was produced, Flato had settled in New York with a $XNUMX loan from Cole Porter, moved to Hollywood, launched Fulco Verdura's career in America, and went into real estate jewelry with a diamond wholesaler young and relatively unknown named Harry Winston. He was also going deaf, and with his characteristic good humor and ingenuity, he adapted diagrams of the sign language alphabet to jewelry, allowing his customers to spell out hidden messages in gilded patterns by hand.
Flato's letter to Fred's "Feathers" hints at the provenance of this piece - the legendary on-screen dance duo, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
Ginger Rogers (1911-1995) was born Virgina Katherine Mc Math in Independence, Missouri, and began her career on the vaudeville stage after winning a dance competition in Charleston in 1925. Her career took off when she was cast in George Gerswhin's Broadway musical Girl Crazy, which led to her first screen roles in 1929. Her first pairing with Astaire was in the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, opposite Gene Raymond and Dolores Del Rio. Astaire had had several dance partners in her already established career, but Rogers' ability to maintain his acting skills and comedic tempo as she danced immediately impressed him, and a lasting partnership was born. Rogers Ginger's stage name was already a nickname in itself, stemming from his young cousin's inability to pronounce her real name, Virginia. Her “Feathers” nickname, however, has its origins in perhaps her most famous dance routine with Fred Astaire – the Oscar-nominated Cheek to Cheek from the 1935 musical Top Hat. Rogers searched for a dress that matched beautifully with her as she danced, and asked RKO's Chief Costume Designer, Bernard Newman, to design her a dress of pure blue, "...like the blue you find in Monet's paintings...with myriads of ostrich feathers".
It wasn't until the day of filming that Fred Astaire and director Mark Sandrich first saw the dress, and both immediately stated that it was horribly ugly. As they rehearsed the scene, the feathers adhered to Astaire's face and clothing and flew off as they danced, covering the floor. Astaire and Sandrich grew increasingly exasperated by the dress, but repeated attempts to get Rogers to wear anything else fell on deaf ears – he was adamant, and the line escalated until Ginger threatened to walk off the set unless she could wear the dress. Luckily, they gave in and the dress stayed. The resulting footage demonstrates his excellent judgment, however – the dress moves beautifully as he dances, lending an exquisite fluidity and lightness to his already impeccable choreography, extending every movement of his body.
As a gesture of apology after their line, and perhaps as a reluctant admission of defeat, Astaire gave Rogers a gold charm in the shape of a feather, and the name "Feathers" stuck thereafter as an endearing epithet for his on-screen companion. Rogers may not have been too irritated by her new nickname, for in 1939 he approached Flato to design for her a pair of extravagant gold and diamond brooches fashioned like ostrich feathers.
Rogers' on-screen partnership with Astaire spanned 33 on-screen choreographies across ten films, delighting audiences around the world.
In addition to her dancing skills, however, Rogers was also a talented actress in non-musical roles, eager to define herself independently of Fred Astaire. When she accepted the Oscar for her role in the drama Kitty Foyle in 1940, it was again Paul Flato who designed her floral jewelry.
These years were also the peak of Flato's fortunes as a jeweler. He was generous with his credit, and his glamorous clients slow to pay. His finances in a difficult situation, Flato's fame also worked against him, as his shop was targeted in an armed robbery in 1941. An economy slumped as America entered WWII World made matters even worse, and Flato filed for bankruptcy in 1943. Finally, Flato's investigations uncovered that he had pawned clients' jewels to keep his ailing business afloat, a habit that struck him twice in the notorious Sing Sing Penitentiary in the subsequent decades.
However, Flato's natural ability to create witty and conceptual jewelry has remained engraved in his turbulent life. He eventually settled in Mexico City, where he re-established his jewelry business in 1970. His more recent jewelry is characterized by richly textured gold work and the incorporation of unorthodox materials such as skeletonized Peso coins and bells of brass used by the indigenous Mexican community in ceremonies for the Virgin of Guadeloupe. He spent these last years of his career as a point of reference in the social scene of Mexico City, much loved and frequented by the city's elite. He eventually retired to his native Texas, where he died in 1999, surrounded by his family.
