For Renee Piatt, seeing earrings, necklaces, bracelets or rings from her collection on another woman is about more than noticing sparkling pieces of jewelry — it’s about a deeper shine.
“I want to empower women with my jewelry,” said Piatt, founder of the Renee Piatt Collection. “When she walks into a room I want her to feel authentically herself. I want her to feel confident. I really, truly believe that my jewelry does do that.”
Each piece of the collection is either designed by Piatt or curated through pieces she discovers when traveling. The Sewickley Heights resident creates unique items using all metal tones and one-of-a-kind natural raw stones. She said she loves the beauty of natural raw stones and “that they came from the earth.”
She searches for one-of-a-kind pieces to complement the collection.
“I call it wearable art,” Piatt said as she stood in her studio surrounded by jewelry elegantly displayed, the natural light creating extra shimmer.
Her initial inspiration came from following other jewelry designers on social media.
“I thought, ‘I could do this’” she said.
So she did.
“There was this creative outlet that was somewhat missing in my life,” said the wife and mom of two. “I’d always been interested in art ever since I was very little, and I love fashion, too. I had I dabbled in floral design but that wasn’t quite right — but it did get my creative juices flowing.”
With metalsmithing and lost wax casting soldering classes at Bowling Green State University, she had a foundation. She took two assembly classes and learned the rest on her own.
Piatt founded the company in 2013. She began by purchasing $400 in materials on a credit card. Her first creation was a pair of earrings made of two big pieces of agate with a druzy royal blue piece dangling on the bottom (druzy is a natural gemstone with glittering crystals that form a layer over a rock).
“I loved them but they were so heavy,” Piatt said. “Making jewelry is very much like a live and learn kind of trial and error process.”
Through that trial and error process, she explored various metals and created a jewelry selection with pieces that can be worn every day as well as pieces for special occasions. As the business continued to grow, she branched out by attending an annual show in Tucson, Ariz.
“I’ve gotten to the point where I can just order from them from all over the country and all over the world,” Piatt said. “They know my preferences. I’m very discerning with the gemstones and the minerals and I am sensitive to different budgets.”
Her jewelry is at various price points, though most average $60-$80.
Piatt said she knew making jewelry was for her when at her first show in Piatt Place in Downtown Pittsburgh, she nearly sold out of the jewelry.
She opened a shop on Etsy, an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items. She continues to sell through private shows in people’s homes. As her business was expanding Piatt was also a stylist for Doncaster, a high-end women’s clothing line.
She said a new chapter in her jewelry-making story evolved when she was asked to be the jewelry designer for Doncaster. She designed pieces with various necklines and colors, and searched for the perfect metal tones to complement the apparel.
She traveled to New York to attend meetings with Doncaster designers.
“I felt like I had finally arrived,” Piatt said. “I felt like I was in a dream. It was truly like one of the coolest experiences I can imagine. I went from wanting to go to school at Parsons (School of Design in New York) for clothing design and then in a roundabout way I ended up in New York in design meetings. It’s amazing how things kind of just evolve.”
Piatt said that for anyone starting a similar venture, it all begins with a dream — just as it did for her.
She said taking action on that dream is what makes the difference.
“People say, ‘Oh, I could make that or I could paint that or I could do that,’” Piatt said. “It is getting over the fear of failure. You can’t overthink it. You just have to go for it and you have to trust that you know that everything is going to line up for you because it will. And if it’s not what’s right for you it will show that too. Don’t let fear hold you back.”
She said it is also important to have a support system. She credits her husband Lucas and their children River and Marlea for believing in the Renee Piatt Collection.
Having her own business, as well as everything Lucas Piatt is involved in as CEO of Piatt Companies and Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty, is exciting.
One of Lucas Piatt’s current projects is Esplanade. The development would revitalize a roughly 15-acre brownfield along the Ohio River in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood on the North Shore. Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission recently approved the master plan for a riverfront development that intends to bring a nearly 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel, housing, entertainment and shopping to that area.
Lucas Piatt is also the founder of the Piatt Family Foundation’s Rock, Reggae and Relief festival that raises money for local nonprofit organizations. The couple supports various charities and philanthropic causes in Sewickley and throughout the city of Pittsburgh and beyond.
“When we first moved (to Sewickley) I just found everybody to be really grounded and down to earth,” Renee Piatt said. “It’s kind of like a Hallmark or Disney movie. It’s very special. I’m so very proud to raise our kids here. The community is amazing. I just feel so privileged and so humbled to live here. I love the area. I absolutely love it.”
Piatt said Sewickley has so many inspiring people who are passionate and she is honored to have clients who have become friends. One of those is Sewickley resident Sue Franus, who said she stumbled upon an Etsy shop featuring Piatt’s collection in 2014 and was instantly captivated by an abalone shell horn necklace.
“Little did I know that years later, fate, and my bank account, would bring us together as friends when she moved to the same small town village,” Franus said. “Since then, I’ve become a loyal — and perhaps too frequent — customer. Her beautiful pieces have me hooked for life, and I’m convinced I’ll be adding to my collection forever.”
A friend who hosts jewelry parties in her Sewickley Heights home is Cindy Engler. Their connection dates back more than a decade when Renee and Lucas Piatt were moving into the neighborhood. Engler invited them to have dinner with her and her husband, Rich.
“They are an adorable couple,” Cindy Engler said. “We were meant to be friends. We’ve traveled together and I love her jewelry. There is something for everybody.”
Cindy Engler has purchased pieces for herself as well as her daughter Ashley and granddaughter Willa. There are dainty pieces and statement pieces, which are Cindy Engler’s favorite, she said.
As a way to inspire the younger generation, Renee Piatt helped her daughter create Marlea’s Menagerie, which are “accessories with heart.” The line was founded in 2019 and a portion of proceeds are donated to local charities.
A charity Renee Piatt became involved with is Women Who Rock, a campaign that organizes female-led concerts across the U.S. to raise funds and awareness for women’s health research. After attending one of the organization’s events she collaborated to create a lightning bolt necklace and help raise nearly $30,000 for Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation.
She also participates in the Women Who Rock’s annual Galentine’s event that’s held around Valentine’s Day.
“It is important to pay it forward to help women,” Piatt said. “And I never tire of hearing how many compliments my clients get for the pieces that they wear. I want women to feel totally empowered.”
Renee Piatt is hosting a holiday trunk show Dec. 14-15. Email her for details at reneepiatt@yahoo.com.
Details: reneepiatt.com