6 Things You Should Know About Paul Flato
The American jeweler’s work is as fun as it is rare
Irreverent, joyful and totally glamorous, Flato jewels were wildly popular among Hollywood stars and New York socialites during the 1930s and early ‘40s. Today, however, the jewelry and its founder, Paul Flato, are relatively unknown, and pieces from the American label rarely appear on the market.
But Flato has been on my mind lately.
A few weeks ago at the Toledo Museum of Art I had the opportunity to revisit some jaw-dropping Flato in the exhibition Radiance and Reverie: Jewels from the Collection of Neil Lane. I wrote about the pieces in an essay for the exhibit catalogue, “The Shapeshifting Glamour of Jewelry in the Golden Age of Hollywood.”
Earlier this year, I was reminded of Flato’s special commissions when Daniel Saidian of Legacy Vintage Jewels showed me the gold cigarette box that Vogue editor-in-chief Edna Woolman Chase ordered for her daughter, Ilka Chase, in 1942. A well-known item among Flato enthusiasts, Ilka’s box depicts the cover of her memoir Past Imperfect: The Indiscretions of a Lady of Wit and Wisdom.
Then there was the indelible moment last October when actress and world-class jewelry collector Jennifer Tilly introduced Flato to a wide swath of the public. In a promotional photo for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, she wore her aquamarine and ruby necklace, which is on the cover of Paul Flato: Jeweler to the Stars by Elizabeth Bray.
Find out about the fascinating designer in the 6 essential facts below. They cover everything from his jewelry and famous clients to why he served time at Sing Sing.
1. Paul Flato brought Southern hospitality and humor to New York
Born in Shiner, Texas on September 1, 1900, Flato didn’t carry the baggage of a stuffy East Coast background when he moved to New York City in the early 1920s. After briefly attending Columbia University’s Business School, he brought high spirits and wit into the jewelry industry. Clients and the trade adored him and by the time he was just 28, he had established himself well enough to launch his own upstairs jewelry salon at One East 57th Street.
One of Flato’s endearing characteristics was an ability to tell tall jewelry tales. He liked to recount a story, which he swore was true, about when socialite Florence Gould was seated next to Louis Arpels of Van Cleef & Arpels at a dinner. As she told Mr. Arpels, “Paul Flato is my jeweler,” her necklace came unfastened and fell into her soup.
2. Flato’s design team was unlike any other anywhere, ever.
“I don’t know how to draw a line. I am a creator of jewels and guide my designers,” explained Flato in an extended correspondence from the late 1980s with my colleague, Penny Proddow.
The Italian designer, duke Fulco di Verdura, arrived at Flato from the House of Chanel after being introduced by Diana Vreeland. The press acknowledged Fulco’s esteem by giving him credit for his Flato pieces.
Jennifer Tilly’s buckle necklace, created in 1939 for composer Cole Porter to give to his wife Linda, is a Verdura for Flato piece. So is socialite Dolly O’Brien’s necklace in the Horst photo above.
Josephine Forrestal, wife of FDR’s Secretary of the Navy, blew into Flato’s salon with some rough sketches in the 1930s. He liked them so much he said, “Won’t you sit down and stay?” Though she was no nine-to-fiver, Josephine did come up with Victorian inspired “wiggly” (read en tremblant) diamond clips and gold boxes that looked like tufted cushions with diamond buttons.
When Josephine brought her friend Millicent Rogers to work one day, the Standard Oil heiress lingered just long enough to dream up “puffy” hearts, a design Flato transformed into brooches and earrings.
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