From the original designer of Lunch at the RitzTM
Ritzy Couture by Esme Hecht is my fun, fashionable, and collectible art jewelry line. It’s my creative way to avoid taking myself too seriously as a designer, while intricately and obsessively documenting the icons of our lives. I use my unique sense of humor, style, wit and vision to create these little wearable vignettes, with the intention of reminding myself that life is short and it’s so important to have some fun! All my original thematic designs are wonderfully oversized, double sided, uniquely hand colored, hand set with crystal, and embellished with semiprecious beads and rhinestones. Believe me, it drives us all crazy to make them, but I love the finished product and hope you do too.
Ritzy Couture is designed to make you smile, create a conversation piece, and express true testimony to your individuality. Whether worn by itself, as sets, or mixed and matched, Ritzy Couture makes a unique impact, as unique as the women who choose to own it, wear it, and collect it. It makes me happy, so why not make it your own!
I hope you enjoy wearing Ritzy Couture as much as I love creating it!
About Esme Hecht
My mother, God love her, wore a different pair of my earrings every day of her life. But it didn’t start out that way. From an early age she could see I loved the arts, so instead she told me to become a doctor and do art on the side. And what did I do? After college I hitchhiked from New York to Berkeley CA where I got a job in a jewelry factory. I later sold my wares as a street artist in Berkeley and San Francisco. I was ecstatic! In 1982 I moved to New York and created Lunch at The Ritz, selling high end fashion jewelry internationally to department stores, exclusive boutiques and art galleries everywhere. My customers included Cher, Diana Ross, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, Janet Jackson, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton and more.
And thirty years later, by 2012, like it or not, it was time for new beginnings. I hit the road again. They say we can’t always choose what happens in life, but we can always choose how to deal with it. I called it the freedom I never asked for. I just felt that there was more inside of me that I hadn’t tapped into yet, and I set off to find out what it was.
I sold Lunch at The Ritz in order to begin collaborating with some of the top designers in the fashion industry such as Kenneth Jay Lane. I worked for an incredible jewelry factory here in Rhode Island (the costume jewelry capital of the world) and I eventually began designing jewelry for Oscar de la Renta, working directly with then creative director Peter Copping and their VP of Jewelry, designing couture fashion jewelry for the runway and retail, selling for thousands of dollars.
But something was missing. It was my need to express myself and my direct connection with the women who love what I do. I left my job, took a leap of faith and started designing my brains out for myself. As a result, I’m excited to introduce my own line again, Ritzy Couture by Esme Hecht®!
I’m here to say that if any of you think your life is over, and that you are stuck with the cards you’ve been dealt, I’m living proof that miracles do happen if you have faith and keep an open mind. I now live in Providence RI with my partner and wonderful friends, and I try to spend as much time as possible expressing my gratitude for all the blessings in my life.
I love what I do. Why not wear what you love?
~Esme