We asked seven exceptionally tasteful New Yorkers to tell us about an item they bought forever ago — and that they still love (and use) today. Here, Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang on her vintage ceramic Heath plates that have lasted more than 50 years.
Around 2008, I was throwing lots of big dinner parties. Once a month, I’d host an underground supper club with anywhere from 15 to 20 people, and more regularly I’d host a separate dinner party with about a dozen folks. I had been using a big set of vintage Fiestaware I’d scored on eBay, but going through a mid-century-modern kick, I wanted something more in line with that aesthetic.
I was obsessed with Heath Ceramics, which I most likely stumbled upon online or in a magazine, and this was a particularly good period of eBay. Back then, not as many people knew about the brand, so it was very easy to find a large vintage set. I found mine from a seller in Eugene, Oregon, with a particular celadon glaze made between 1965 and 1972. The set came with ten dinner plates, six salad plates, salt and pepper shakers, four little teacups, four coffee cups, saucers to go with them, and a small sauceboat, all for $185 with shipping. My sister reminds me that she and I had a fight about this purchase because I was in credit-card debt and she thought I shouldn’t have been investing in dinnerware. But I insisted it was important that I get it.
The set has since moved with me from Fort Greene to Washington Heights to two different homes on the Upper West Side. Except for a few plate chips during my most recent move, in September 2020, the set has mostly stayed intact. I’ve also sent the mugs to my sister in California, who just recently started building out her own dinnerware collection: Only one of them broke, but she was able to put it back together with a kintsugi kit — a testament to their quality.
I’ve had many, many dinner parties using my set and eaten thousands of meals on the plates. I have other East Fork plates and Heath plates with a different rim, but the Coupe line is my family’s day-to-day dinnerware. We like that they’re lightweight and much thinner than the others. We’re not precious with them, either: They go through the dishwasher every day. I use them for every kind of meal. They get microwaved, and my kids eat off them.
I’ve since added more to my inventory of Heath Ceramics. When I visit my best friend or sister in the Bay Area, we stop by the Sausalito store and pick up “seconds” (discounted items that are discontinued or samples) and pieces with their current glazes. I have a bunch of cereal bowls, a big serving bowl, and lots of other pieces. Those new ones are shinier than my original vintage set, but that’s only because they haven’t been used the way mine have. Otherwise, the designs are consistent and all of the pieces go together nicely. And now when I ask my sister if she thinks my eBay set was a good purchase, she says, “Net yes.”
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