For those who are not familiar with this man, he used to be a really popular jeweler in America, specifically New York City during the 1920s until the early 1940s. In fact, he got somehow considered as the first celebrity jeweler to date. What really made him a notable individual was his really significant jewelry and being the early proponent of pieces which were considered to be whimsical.

The sad fact is that he died when he was ninety eight years old and that is a really impressive lifespan compared to some people. Considering that everything is so modern nowadays, individuals may not have known him and that is bad since he got so prominent before and maybe some jewelry today might be inspired from his collection. In other words, we shall be tackling about the jeweled life story of Paul Flato.

For a jeweler, his notable diamonds were even worn by big Hollywood celebrities like Greta Garbo, Merle Oberon, and Rita Hayworth. He even counted both movie stars and socialites as his clients and there were numerous films in which his pieces were shown during the 1930s. Wearing his old collection these days would be very vintage and therefore, worth a lot.

First of all, he started his whole career when he was still a watch salesman until he got able to open his very own jewelry business somewhere in Manhattan. He became one of the most respected jewelers of all time and this man even did majestically on his impressive work on a par with other European jewelers. He had taken his ideas from his very own four designers.

He made diamond and platinum pieces in certain flowers, scrolls, and ribbons in a fashionable design. There was even that significant apple blossom necklace he made especially for Lily Pons. She was a singer of the opera and she wore that on the neck with diamond blossoms on each side. The rose became a rambler which intertwined around the wrist too.

His whimsical jewels were the most important of all and one of which was the corset made of diamonds. It also had garters in rubies which was based from the undergarment of Mae West. Katharine Hepburn even wore the gold digger which was a bracelet of gold pickax. Gloria Vanderbilt also shined with gold and enamel angels.

At some point of his life, there came a time wherein he faced conviction for fraudulently obtaining and also disposing jewels from his colleagues. Because of that, he spent a lot of his years in 1945 until he pleaded guilty. He served sixteen months in federal prison because of taking collections on consignment form his fellows and of pawning them as well.

He lived there for about eight years by fighting extradition on more charges of forgery and grand larceny which involved about more than six thousand dollars of gems which were given to him by dealers. He was only able to make it back in the United States during 1953. He went back to Mexico again in 1970.

After spending about two decades in that place, he returned to Texas by 1990. He also had three daughters named Catharine Dennis, Barbara McCluer, and Susan Flato. He also had a grandson plus six great grandchildren. Therefore, it is subjective to say if he lived a glamorous life or not.