Monica Rich Kosann

Our Curriculum Vitae Q&A with jewelry designer Monica Rich Kosann.

Astrological sign?
Aquarius. I’m very much Aquarius.

Lucky number?
I was thinking about that, because I don’t live like that, but I think my lucky numbers are my girls birthdays, which are 6 and 16. So I think those are my most lucky days, I guess, and my wedding. But I think my kids.

Favorite Color?
Blue. All types and shades of blue.

Morning, Noon or Night?
Totally morning. After 9:00pm don’t call me. My husband can do business 24/7. He’s one of those people. Once I’ve had dinner I can’t work anymore.

Uptown, Midtown or Downtown?
I guess Uptown. I was brought up on the Upper East Side, which I would never live again. But I’m probably Uptown. I have to say, my grandson, who lives in Tribeca, always says to me, “Mimi, 10 more minutes, Uptown?”

Oscars, Tonys or Grammys?
The Golden Globes. I find them more real. I love that they all sit together and you see the synergy between. Although I do love the Oscars. But the only people I can talk to during the Oscars is my mother and my girls. We’re texting, “did you see what so-and-so is wearing?”

Met, MOMA or Movies?
M: Met. I used to take my kids to the Met when they were little and we used to walk around there. The Met is really important to me, because I grew up on the Upper East Side, but also because being first generation American, like as soon as I could walk, I had to ski, I had to go to the opera, I had to go to museums, and it was just in my DNA. And I didn’t go in a fancy way. That’s just what you did, you were four years old and you went to the opera. You went to the Met and looked at art. And then when my kids were little they did the same thing. I would take them to the Met all the time, they would walk and walk and to get them into the art, I would say to them, where is a cow? And it would give them a focus because they could walk through the rooms and they could look at the art. I’m all about developing the eye. Just make it more interesting and more fun.

Football, Baseball, or Basketball?
Soccer. Am I allowed to go off? Big, big soccer fan. My dad loved soccer. I would call him up and tell him to turn on channel so-and-so. My kids played soccer too.

Green Tea, Black Tea, or Herbal Tea?
Coffee. Sorry!

Sugar, Splenda, or Stevia?
I guess natural sugar if I have to.

Red, White, or Rosé?
White, chardonnay darling! 24/7 there’s a Chard in my fridge!

Spicy, Salty, or Sweet?
Salty

Sandwich, Soup, or Salad?
Oh, soup. I love soup. Total soup person. Anytime of the day. At a restaurant, outdoors, 90 degrees and I’ll order soup. I love soup.

Black, white or color?
I’m definitely either black or white. I’m not a big color person. I’m usually monochromatic because of my jewelry. So when I buy something, if it takes away from my jewelry I won’t buy it. Or if I wear something and I feel like it takes away from my jewelry, I won’t wear it. Today, I wore more white. If I wore a color, I’d wear more browns and beiges, but usually pretty monochromatic.

Is your closet messy or neat?
Messy. When I saw that question I thought, am I honest? I can’t lie.

Favorite flower?
Tulips. White tulips. I’m a big white flower person. I love white pottery. It’s clean, it’s simple.

Cheat meal?
French fries, chocolate chip cookies. I eat a lot. I know I’m lucky. I mean I exercise. I gain a few pounds but I won’t feel like it, it’s genetic.

What’s your favorite room?
Probably my family room where everyone’s always congregating, or the kitchen because everyone’s always congregating and hanging in the kitchen, too. Would probably be a toss up between family room and kitchen. My family room is attached to my kitchen so maybe it’s kitchen slash family room. When you invite people over, don’t you find that you clean your house, you make everything perfect and you put hors d’oeuvres out in the living room or whatever, but everyone’s like sitting on the counter no matter how big or small your kitchen is. You’re always sitting in the kitchen with your glass of wine or drink in your hand.

Dream dinner guest?
I really thought about that. I think that I see that my kids have grandparents and they’re so lucky and blessed to have that influence, and I see myself with my grandson. I think I’d like to meet my grandparents, who I never was able to meet. And I’ve heard so much about them. So I just want to know if they really are how my parents told me about them. I want to know if my parents were really like they said they were when they were young, that kind of stuff.

Sunday ritual?
My favorite thing to do on a Sunday really is to recharge. And I literally like to sit in the family room with a stack of like I’d like a million coffee table books in my office. My home magazines. I’m still a magazine person. I take this huge stack of magazines, I sit on the couch and I just recharge and get and feel like I need to more creatively than anything, sort of a mental health day for me just to be creative. I’m constantly tearing things, taking pictures, pinteresting or Instagram and doing some reading. Just to get recharged. I get inspired by everything, really. I’m inspired just when I walk in the city just by architecture, art, because I find people very inspiring. Old movies, I love to turn on old Turner Classics. I don’t even have to have the sound on. I love to just sit and watch.

Talent you’d like to have?
I have no talent in mathematics. I wish I was more of a numbers person. I sit in meetings and they talk about numbers for my own company. And then they’re doing meetings about the web. And we have these web meetings where the guys are talking about statistics and everyone on my team is asking questions and I’m thinking about jewelry, I just cannot focus when you talk like that. I was really bad at math and science wasn’t my thing. I’m smarter streetwise. I grew up in New York with public schools, so I can kind of pretty much handle anything.

Best thing about New York?
I’m a New Yorker. I love it. I mean, we did move out to Connecticut when we had our kids, but my whole family grew up here and now we’re back. I just like the diversity. I like the inspirations. Different cultures, different smells. Just everything’s so alive.

What does Considered Luxury mean to you?
I consider our brand to be a luxury, no matter what price point you get it at, because it’s timeless. And it’s exclusive to you because it tells your story. It’s how you wear it. It’s how you put the pieces together. Your bracelet is your bracelet and that’s luxury. This is a luxurious bracelet. Forgetting that it’s 18 karat gold. It’s luxury because it’s one of a kind. It’s mine and it’s timeless. This locket, what I put in it makes it timeless. You had the power all along, my dear, is timeless. To say you have the power all along is empowering as a woman. That, to me is the definition of luxury, to have pieces that say something about your life, about you, and make you feel like you’re confident you can go on with your day and you can stand in front of 400 women and speak or you can be creative or run a business or you can do what you want to do. There’s so much sameness in the world. I’m not knocking it. I know everyone wants to carry the same bag. Every woman wants to wear the same pair of shoes. I feel like I have to only speak for my jewelry and my definition of luxury is to have something that is just timeless and just never goes out of style. Some things that I would share with my daughter, something that they want to steal from my drawer. That’s when I know my jewelry is good, is when they want to steal it. Or “borrow it,” as they say. I had been given this great Dries jacket, this bomber jacket that I got years ago. But Dries never goes out of style. So every so often it’s missing from my closet and then all of a sudden it reappears.

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