Henri Samuel is a son of Fred Samuel, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1908, came to France at 16 and in 1936 opened his jewellery shop at 6 rue Royale in Paris, and who in 1939 joined a regiment of foreign volunteers raised by the French Foreign Legion and later served in the Resistance. Fred passed on to his sons his love of sport, and Henri and his brother Jean became accomplished sailors and European champions in the Flying Dutchman dinghy class.
From the 1960s the two brothers joined the family business, and the house grew steadily. In 1966 Henri designed the bracelet that became FRED's signature: inspired by sailing, it joined steel marine cable with yellow gold, and was named Force 10 after the storm level on the Beaufort scale. The collection was launched in 1978 and the interchangeable bracelet in 2007; FRED calls it a bold, genderless symbol of freedom.
With Jean he opened boutiques in France, Monaco and the United States, among them the Monaco boutique of 1976, opened in the presence of Grace Kelly, after which FRED became jeweller to the princely family, and Beverly Hills in 1977, where engraved plates by Picasso were exhibited. In 1975 they opened 6 Royale, a Paris boutique for leather goods and accessories. The house worked with artists, from jewels by Jean Cocteau and Bernard Buffet in 1962 and 1971 to an exhibition of Braque jewels in 1972, and built its name on exceptional stones: the 105.54-carat yellow diamond Soleil d'Or, unveiled in November 1977, and, from 1988, the Arc-en-ciel setting of 42 coloured diamonds, which made coloured diamonds a speciality of the house. The family sold FRED to LVMH in 1995. His daughter Valérie Samuel returned as artistic director in 2017.
Some accounts say Fred Samuel designed Force 10 after watching Henri braid a rope; FRED itself credits Henri. Casadi has not verified his dates of birth or his exact titles in the company.