NJN: Bonhams Auction to Include Pieces by Paul Flato

Paul Flato’s Double Longhorn bracelet

(IDEX Online News) – Jewelry created by iconic designer Paul Flato will be part of Bonhams April 15 fine jewelry sale in New York, the auction house announced Tuesday.

Flato, who died in 1999 at the age of 98, was a jeweler to the stars, mainly from the 1920s to 1940s, with celebrities including Greta Garbo, Mae West, Rita Hayworth, Doris Duke and Katherine Hepburn donning his creations.

In 1943, he was convicted of fraudulently pawning $100,000 in jewels and was sent to Sing Sing penitentiary in New York for 16 months. He fled to Mexico City upon release, fighting extradition charges for larceny and forgery and eventually returned to the United States in 1953.

The expected top lots from Flato include an 18-karat gold and diamond “Double Longhorn” bracelet (top photo), made in the 1970s when he was living in Mexico City and working out of a jewelry store.

An 18-karat gold and brass cowbell necklace, referencing the Mexican festival day for the Virgin of Guadalupe, has a pre-sale high estimate of $12,000.

“These extraordinary pieces, acquired by a family friend and admirer of Flato, demonstrate his creative, witty and inventive sense of design. We’re seeing a renewed interest in bold, unique 18-karat gold jewelry dating from the 1970s and 1980s,” said Susan Abeles, head of jewelry at Bonhams United States.

Bonhams April 15 sale, which will take place at the auction house’s sale room on Madison Avenue, also will include pieces from an unnamed party who had personal relationships with a number of jewelers, including Harry Winston, Bulgari, Sabbadini and David Webb.

The “Prominent Private Collection of Fine Jewelry” totals 82 lots.

Lots from the Fine Jewelry auction will preview at Bonhams Los Angeles from April 5 to 7 and at Bonhams New York from April 11 to 15. Additional information about the sale can be found here.