fred leighton

Kwiat Buys Fred Leighton

Filed under: Jewelry

If you've ever seen celebrities on the red carpet at one of the major awards shows you've probably seen Fred Leighton jewels. The estate jeweler routinely outfits many top stars with glittering jewelry for special occasions. It's been a tough year for the jeweler, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2008 but now rescue comes from diamond jewelry brand Kwiat. National Jeweler reports that Kwiat Enterprises, LLC and two other partners have purchased the assets of Fred Leighton in a $25.8 million deal.

Kwiat will take over the Fred Leighton business, including its boutiques in New York City and Las Vegas, continuing to run them under the Fred Leighton name. Kwiat's other partners are Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC--partnering as FL Acquisitions LLC and FOF Inventory Holding, which consists of four estate and jewelry dealers including Windsor Jewelers, Robert Sadian and Mark Emanuel of European Arts and Antiques, Sima Ghadamian of Sima G. Ltd., and Moonbeam Consulting, whose principal is the company's original founder Fred Leighton.

Greg Kwiat, who will be chief executive officer of Fred Leighton, told National Jeweler that he see Fred Leighton as a "very complementary acquisition for Kwiat." After all both brands court the favor of Hollywood stars and both have retail stores on Madison Avenue in New York City and in Las Vegas. Kwiat hopes to boost Fred Leighton's retail presence and its wholesale presence in fine department stores and independent jewelers.

Jewelry collector and Fred Leighton owner Ralph Esmerian who filed the bankruptcy petition, bought Fred Leighton for $100 million in 2006 using a $178 million loan from Merrill Lynch and Co. Last year he planned a Christie's auction to recoup some of the brand's outstanding debt claims. Esmerian relinquished control of the company to a restructuring officer in January 2009 and earlier this month a bankruptcy judge signed an order that authorized the sale to Kwiat and the other two companies of Fred Leighton's assets, free and clear of all liens, claims, interests and encumbrances. The company's main creditor, Merrill Lynch will be the first beneficiary of the proceeds of the sale. In a press release issued by the company, Fred Leighton himself expressed enthusiasm that the Fred Leighton Madison Avenue store will continue to remain a New York landmark and that the brand "will continue to be the preeminent antique jeweler in the world."

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Tags: diamonds, estate jeweler, estate jewelry, EstateJeweler, EstateJewelry, fred leighton, FredLeighton, jewelry, kwiat, madison avenue, MadisonAvenue, red carpet jewelry, RedCarpetJewelry

Best Bling of the Oscars

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

The multicolored masterpiece of a necklace you see here is on shown on the lovely neck of Amy Adams. This was one of the many pieces of "statement jewelry" we saw last night at the 2009 Oscars.

Any famous person can get a jeweler to loan them some ice for the 81st Annual Academy Awards, but nominated stars like Amy Adams walk away with pieces that look more like they came from a museum.

The Oscars is no night to hide your wealth, even during a recession. It's not like "toning down" the looks of the celebrities would make Americans feel better about their financial situations. In fact, jewelry like this is what America wants to see the most -- it's totally unaffordable, even during an economic boom; it's Hollywood fantasy.

Jeweler Fred Leighton had a great showing this year, with spectacular 19th and turn-of-the century items on everyone from Alicia Keys to Tina Fey, and even Heath Ledger's mother and sister. Chopard was the jeweler of champions; outfitting both Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz (winners of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress).

Check out more of the most outstanding pieces here in our gallery. This is the kind of jewelry you can't fake.

Gallery: Best Bling of the Oscars