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As Good as Gold

October 13, 2025

By Louise Irvine

Esther Gold creates jewelry featuring antique designs and vintage glass inspired by the Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras. She has been an ardent collector throughout her life and is particularly inspired by Lalique and Tiffany. Many years ago, Esther discovered a treasure trove of brass findings, glass pieces, and crystal beads from the early 1900s in Providence, RI, hailed as the costume “jewelry capital of the world.” She fashions her rare finds into beautiful necklaces and earrings, which are sold in the WMODA Museum Shop.

Esther moved to New York in the early 1970s and enjoyed browsing vintage boutiques and antique stores. She taught herself to make jewelry from her novel finds and sold her work at the boutiques she frequented. At a party, the jewelry buyer from Saks Fifth Avenue admired her necklace, which led to her first department store order. Esther’s company, Goldust, was given an entire showcase in the young women’s department. Having exhausted all her sources for jewelry components in Manhattan, Esther heard about Providence, RI, and set out on the train to learn more.

The American Jewelry industry began in Providence, RI, with the introduction of gold cladding, a process that bonds real gold to a less valuable base metal. The industry grew rapidly in the 19th century, and Providence became a hub for processes such as stamping, casting, and plating. Jewelry materials were imported from around the world, creating a globalized manufacturing center in Providence that continued until the late 1970s.

Esther tried knocking on the doors of the myriad factories in Providence without success. Despondent, she dropped into a bar where she had the good fortune to meet a man who turned out to be the head of the local chamber of commerce. He introduced her to some of the business owners, and she struck gold with a 90-year-old jeweler, who invited her to take her pick from his attic stockpile, some of which was purchased in the 1920s.

After Esther discovered this amazing source, she returned to Providence many times and bought from other factories. Her business expanded after she figured out how to turn these original treasures into necklaces and earrings. Before long, she was also selling her designs in many other New York City stores, including Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman. She started exhibiting Goldust at trade shows, and reps sold her jewelry nationwide to boutiques, antique stores and museum shops.

Esther’s jewelry began to be worn by celebrities, including Jane Fonda, Mary Tyler Moore, and Madonna, and appeared in the media, notably on the cover of New York magazine.  She had to make connections with fabricators in Germany to keep up with demand. In 1974, she opened her own antiques shop in Gramercy Park, with her jewelry studio on-site. She specialized in one-of-a-kind designs in Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, such as the glass scarabs from the 1920s, when Egyptian art was all the rage.

Esther says she saved the best pieces for her retirement to Delray Beach, so we were very fortunate when she visited WMODA some years ago and we began selling her Goldust collection in the Museum Shop.  We will be highlighting Esther’s work during our Art Deco Fantasies event on November 22.  Her Mucha-style Art Nouveau designs will also be in the spotlight with the opening of Timeless Mucha · The Magic of the Line exhibition at the Boca Museum of Art. Esther hopes you can appreciate the beauty in these pieces as she did when she made her amazing discovery all those years ago.