Olga Tritt immigrated to New York from Russia in the early 20th century. She studied as a watchmaker and began buying and selling jewelry to important New York clients, eventually moving to design and make her own pieces. Known for large, colorful gemstones, Tritt traveled the world gathering the gems she used in her bold designs. She went to the Caribbean for pearls, India for rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and Brazil for aquamarines and tourmalines. The Brazilian government commissioned her to design jewelry using stones sourced from their mines that were shown at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. Today she is little-known, in part because she did not often sign her pieces.