For years, countless style-setters around the world — Hollywood starlets among them — have turned to Madison Avenue mainstay Fred Leighton for its exceptional selection of antique and vintage baubles.
Wrapped around its elegant corner of 66th and Madison Avenue in New York, Leighton is a brilliantly glittering star in the jewelry firmament. Since the boutique moved uptown in 1984, Leighton has become known for bringing antique and 20th-century jewels to a discerning international clientele and, perhaps most famously, for contributing to the red carpet looks of countless starlets (including Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Amy Adams and Claire Danes, to name but a few). Simply put, over the past few decades, Leighton has helped move antique jewelry out of its dusty, insular ivory tower and into the wider world of fast-moving modern style.
The story of Fred Leighton as we know it began in the 1970s, when Murray Mondschein (now something of a legend in the jewelry industry) took over a Greenwich Village clothing shop called Fred Leighton (after its original owner) and started selling Mexican wedding dresses, hand-crafted accessories and ethnic jewelry. When someone gave him some antique jewelry to sell, he added that to the mix.
A defining moment came in the mid-1990s: “It started with an unexpected call from Miuccia Prada,” relays Greg Kwiat, the jeweler’s CEO. “She had designed a dress for Nicole Kidman to wear to the Oscars, and she had something very specific in mind for the jewelry that should go with it.” Fred Leighton lent a vintage choker of Australian opals (a reference to Kidman’s nationality) that Prada, a client and collector, had seen in the shop. The timing was perfect, as “vintage” in general — clothes, accessories, jewelry, furniture — was being embraced for its charm, individuality and powers of personal expression. “Estate jewelry pushed against the sameness of modern branded culture,” explains Kwiat.
By the mid-2000s Mondschein (who by then had legally changed his name to Fred Leighton) had retired and an unsettled period of interim ownership followed. In 2009, the Kwiats, world-leading diamond traders and jewelers, bought the business, and Greg Kwiat became CEO. Today, the Madison Avenue boutique presents an air of streamlined serenity: taupe carpet warmed by original Art Deco showcases; furniture in rich, glossy Macassar wood; wrought-iron balustrades that recall a luxurious 1930s ocean liner. The jewelry, set out simply but impeccably, covers a 200-year span of styles and eras, from the candlelit romance of Georgian diamond chandelier earrings, through the pomp and grandeur of Victorian jewels, to the modernism of Art Deco masterpieces and seminal 1960s designs by the likes of Van Cleef & Arpels and David Webb.
Leighton’s particular strengths lie in Victorian pieces from the 1800s and Art Deco pieces. She likes the eclecticism and eccentricity of 19th-century jewelry, embodied, for example, by an enameled serpent bangle, with its gem-encrusted head, a favorite motif of Queen Victoria, or a pair of dramatic gold Egyptian-inspired earrings with scarab motifs that tell of the vogue for archaeological revival jewels during the period.
Today, the antique and 20th-century offerings are joined by a contemporary Fred Leighton-branded collection, whose rings, necklaces and other accessories are either inspired by historical precedents or actually incorporate antique elements, such as a pair of earrings composed of vintage diamond wings with appended enamels and fringes that provide an of-the-moment edge.
Find Fred Leighton jewelry on 1stDibs today.
Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Dragonfly Brooch
By Fred Leighton
Located in New Orleans, LA
Enveloped in a sea of 60.26 carats of fancy vivid yellow diamonds is this tour de force of jewelry craftsmanship from the collaboration of jewelry legends Fred Leighton and Carvin French. Made for Patricia Kluge...
Yellow Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
$48,265Sale Price|55% Off
H 2.52 in W 1.34 in L 2.52 in
Large Brooch Emerald Diamond Tsavorite Sapphire Gold Baroque style
Located in Berlin, DE
Antique-inspired Emerald, Diamond Gold Brooch with Yellow Sapphire Shaped like a gorgeous feather with a octagon-cut emerald as focus-point, this Emerald, Diamond Gold Brooch with Yellow Sapphire is so exquisite that it can be compared with one of the sculptural masterpieces of the Roman baroque style, the ‘Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.’ The sculpture was inspired by a vision of Saint Teresa, which she described in a very visual, even sexual way. An angel plunged a golden spear into her heart, leaving her breathless and consumed with a spiritual pain so intense that she did not want it to end. This brooch is the contemporary transformation of the sculpture found in the Cornaro Chapel, in Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Rome. The artist was Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Why do we say this? Bernini began by designing the chapel as the 'theatre' for his sculpture. Similarly, the Vintage-inspired Emerald, Diamond Gold Brooch also needs a setting, a background. That, of course, is you! The ‘Ecstasy’ is floodlit by beams of natural light from a hidden window. The natural light mingles with the shine from a cluster of vertical bronze shafts behind the sculpture, shaped to bear a resemblance to the rays of the sun. Imagine this precious gold brooch in your outstretched hand. Rays of rainbow aurora will bounce and shimmer, just like it does on the ‘Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.’ Features of the Vintage-inspired Emerald, Diamond Gold Brooch with Yellow Sapphire: It is all precious stones in this royal brooch...
Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, Tsavorite, Gold, 18k Gold, 9k Gold, White Go...
$2,980Sale Price|20% Off
Henry Dunay Seashell Brooch/Pin Hammered Finish 18K Yellow Gold
By Henry Dunay
Located in Perry, FL
Hammered Finish Signed Henry Dunay Seashell Brooch/ Pin in 18K Yellow Gold.
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s Yellow Gold Poodle Brooch
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
A fine vintage 18 karat yellow gold brooch in the form of a poodle; part of our vintage jewelry and estate jewelry collections. This fine 18k yellow gold brooch has been realistically modelled in the form of a poodle. The poodle is further embellished with inset ruby eyes and a broad collar with link chain. The poodle is secured to the reverse with a bar pin and safety catch. The hallmarks struck to the underside of the poodle's body include the 18k fineness mark (18) (.750) and the London Import Hallmarks. Images do not always reflect the true color and brilliance of gemstones and diamonds. The video however provides a truer representation of the actual color and showcases each stone. Condition This vintage poodle brooch...
Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Cartier 18k 750 Yellow Gold and Diamond Compact
By Cartier
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Vintage 18K yellow gold Cartier compact powder box with a woven texture and diamond encrusted thumb-piece. Circa 1950's. The compact is stamped with th...
Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
18K Rose Gold Turtle Mixed Colored Diamond Brooch
By Althoff Jewelry
Located in Hong Kong, HK
18K Rose Gold Turtle Mixed Diamond Brooch 54 Mixed Colored Diamonds - 0.37 CT 2 Rubies - 0.01 CT 18K Rose Gold - 3.95 GM Turtle represents intuitive development, protection, wisdom...
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Rose Gold
Hattie Carnegie Whimsical "Insect" with Movable Wings Gilded Hardware Brooch
By Hattie Carnegie
Located in New York, NY
Hattie Carnegie wonderfully whimsical etched gilded gold vermeil hardware "Insect" brooch is accented with movable wings as if in flight whether being worn or just simply plac...
$386Sale Price|20% Off
L 2.29 in
Vintage Stick/Tie Pin, Fox Head with Ruby Eyes set in 9 Carat Yellow Gold
Located in London, GB
Sweet, edgy, and boho pin, creative and fun to wear, charming with this 9 carat yellow gold pin in fox head design. The fox head itself has incredible details, from its whiskers to i...
Ruby, 9k Gold, Yellow Gold
$413Sale Price|20% Off
L 2.17 in
Antique Dagger/Knife Stick Pin with Ruby and Rose Cut Diamonds in 18 Carat Gold
Located in London, GB
Detailed out of the ordinary antique yellow gold pin, with an edgy dagger sweet motif of a sharp yellow gold dagger sleek and smooth. The handles are crafted with such consideration,...
Diamond, Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, 9k Gold
Rare Egyptian Revival Pharoah Brooch Lapis Diamond Ruby Pearl Enamel Art Deco
Located in New York, NY
This is a museum quality Belle Epoque - Art Deco Egyptian Revival masterpiece with a Lapis Lazuli Pharoah, adorned with Old Mine and Rose Cut Diamonds, Ruby, and Pearls and set in 14...
Diamond, Lapis Lazuli, Pearl, Ruby, 14k Gold, Gold, Enamel, Yellow Gold
Alice Caviness Sterling Silver with Gold Overlay Moveable Butterfly Wings Brooch
By Alice Caviness
Located in New York, NY
Alice Caviness wonderfully detailed sterling silver with gold overlay butterfly brooch has all four wings moveable if desired. Filigree handwork and made in Germany. The upper...
Cartier Platinum Yellow Gold Diamond Black Enamel Pendant Watch Necklace
By Cartier
Located in New York, NY
This unique and wonderful Cartier Paris Pendant-Watch necklace was manufactured ca. 1920 with the dial movement and case signed Cartier. The original guilloche dial has enamel roman numerals and fine enamel minute bars on the perimeter. The watch crystal is held within a fine gold ring...
Diamond, Pearl, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum, Enamel
$11,262Sale Price|55% Off
W 0.4 in D 0.4 in L 2.88 in
Opal brooch gold Australian Natural Crystal Opal Art Nouveau Paris
By Edouard Aimé Arnould
Located in Berlin, DE
An exceptional piece - Art nouveau Opal Brooch from original catalogue of french jeweller Edouard Aimé Arnould, circa 1910 opal origin - Australia...
Crystal, Opal, Gold, 18k Gold
Fred Leighton Platinum Pave Diamond Headband
By Fred Leighton
Located in New York, NY
This headband is pave-set with round diamonds weighing approximately 8.98 carats total, mounted in platinum, signed Fred Leighton. Fun fact: Fred Leighton was thrilled Lupita Nyong’...
Diamond, Platinum