When I first stepped inside New Top, the downtown New York jewelry shop where fashion insiders loved to shop for their gold, I was overwhelmed by options. The year was 2016, and the jewelry shop was flooding my Instagram feed non-stop: Fashion people I admired seemed to love it, and I was curious.
Inside was a gold lover’s fever dream. Two rows of sparkling glass counters held virtually every kind of ring or pendant that you could imagine (crosses! Roses! Dogs!), and on each side of the shop, the walls were lined with endless variations of gold chains and bracelets. The prices? They depended on your selection. Behind the counter, you would always find owner George Tsui, shopkeeper Jane Shuai, or one of their trusted assistants wheeling-and-dealing with the impeccably cool clientele. (Sometimes, Jane, the recognizable face of the store, even gave you a secret discount—if she liked you, you were a loyal customer, or if you had a lot of Instagram followers and promised to share your purchase. She always reposted with glee.)
At its peak—especially around the mid-to-late 2010s—you would often have to wait in a short line to shop inside New Top. It was the jewelry hotspot where all of fashion’s top writers, stylists, models, and editors scored their goods. (Writer Liana Satenstein, a former colleague of mine, heightened that reputation with this buzzy Vogue profile.) Earlier this month, however, New Top sadly closed its doors—suddenly and mysteriously.
The New Top Instagram page, once boasting thousands of followers, including many influential creatives, is now deactivated—gone without a trace. The reason for its closure is still unknown, but in statement released exclusively to Vogue, Shuai wanted to give special thanks to her devoted shoppers over the years. “I am very grateful for your support and friendship every day I work,” she wrote via a third party. “I will always remember your sunny smiles!”
While the news of New Top closing is still spreading, many fashion fans are already mourning the loss. And understandably so: There are few shops like it left in the city. For one, you did not need a fortune to shop its assortment of gold goods; the shop was popular for its competitive price points. (Nearby, Popular Jewelry on Canal Street is another celebrity favorite, though decidedly pricier.) New Top was also one of the larger and more sceney jewelry shops in the city: You went there not only to shop, but to see who was shopping.
When Vogue reached out to fashion insiders to share their favorite memories of the store, we were delighted to hear so many great encounters and memorable encounters that took place amid its treasure trove of gold jewelry over the years. Read on for special homages to New Top. This is truly the end of an era.
Liana Satenstein, writer and creator of NeverWorns
“I loved it because you could get something as small as a pinky ring, or something as big as a gold chain with a massive charm. It eventually became the place where, when someone left Vogue, they’d get a piece of jewelry engraved [as their going-away gift].”
Kim Shui, designer
“We had Jane walk in one of my first shows. Almost all of my gold jewelry is from there. New Top was great because she knew what you were looking for and she always made suggestions that worked. If you asked for custom lettering, she was able to translate what you wanted.”
Sally Singer, president, Art + Commerce
I loved New Top, and especially Jane, who liked to brag about her studious and artistically talented daughter while pulling fifty or more charms from the display for me to hem and haw over. New Top was my go-to place for talismanic, personalized baubles—my idea of 14-karat heaven. The selection was vast, the prices fair, and the scene incredible. One of the last true bastions of downtown cool.
Brooke Bobb, fashion news director, Harper s Bazaar
I’ve never been one to run to a jewelry store—clothes and shoes give me more of a rush. But there was something sublimely New York about New Top in the way that the walls were plastered with celebrity photos and hung with spools of shimmering necklaces. There was bad lighting and slightly chaotic display cases. You couldn’t tell if Jane the proprietor hated you or loved you. It was the first place I thought of when I decided to get something made to commemorate the birth of my daughter a few years ago: a small gold nameplate ring with her initials “RAY” in chunky block letters. It’s sweet, cool, not at all cheesy and, just like New Top, an unassuming treasure.
Cady Lang, writer
Shopping for gold in Chinatown is a New York rite of passage and New Top was the crown jewel. I bought my first piece of gold jewelry—a script nameplate ring with a heart accent—from New Top, to celebrate landing a new job. I remember that Jane, always so glam with impeccable hair and nails, was incredibly patient with me on that first visit, taking out trays and trays of jewelry for me to look at as I spent over an hour trying on rings and deliberating styles and personalization. This care was what made New Top so special and it’s why I returned over and over again over the years.
Irene Kim, production editorial associate, Vogue Runway
When my former coworker and friend Liana Satenstein left Vogue, the biggest question the editorial team had was, "What do we get the girl who has absolutely everything?" All roads led us to New Top, the Chinatown jewelry store that Liana had written about many times before. With an idea in mind, and 12 hours until her going away party, we went to New Top to find the perfect piece of jewelry for Liana. We walked in an hour before the store closed, and George and Jane said that while rush orders are not ideal, for Liana a custom pendant was feasible for pick up the next day. While Chioma Nnadi and I were there, I was also doing a little bit of window shopping myself, and Jane was telling me what would look good on me and would fall into my price range—a complete different shopping experience from what I m used to, where shopkeepers are usually trying to get me to spend more than I need!
Leah Faye Cooper, digital style director, Vogue
Among my many shopping regrets is that I never bought a charm, or giant hoop earrings—or anything at all, for that matter—from New Top. Of course, there are a million other places where I can shop for gold, and I have, but New Top was so fun and dazzling and special. If I could go back in time, I would definitely collab on an “LeahFaye“ nameplate necklace with Jane.
Justine Carreon, affiliate manager, Katie Couric Media
New Top is a New York institution. It represents a core part of the city where luxury feels accessible and fun, that anthropomorphic personality of Manhattan storefronts that attracts all types of people. At the time I first started going there, I was a young, poor fashion writer who had champagne taste with bodega beer budget. New Top helped fill out out my meager fine jewelry collection with what is now considered to be trendy, kitschy 14-karat charms long before the word viral even existed. I no longer live in the city, but I still visited it like it’s a regular tourist attraction. (I also like to think I was the first person to ask Jane to put a lil charm on the gold Huggies.)
Emilia Petrarca, writer
I can’t say I was a huge fan, but my friends did get me a gold Italian “horn" necklace there for my 25th Sopranos-themed bday. I think my high school boyfriend also got me a nameplate necklace there, à la Carrie Bradshaw. Goes to show that it was affordable but still high quality enough to last a lifetime!
Christian Allaire, senior fashion and style writer, Vogue
I have bought—and lost—many jewelry pieces from New Top. Notably, a martini-shaped gold pendant necklace that I wore relentlessly throughout my 20s. Each time I went in to visit Jane, she remembered me from the last time, and somehow was always sure to show me things I didn’t know I needed. I wish I still had these pieces—I am a notorious jewelry misplacer!—but the memories of buying them and chit-chatting with Jane are even better, and ones I will hold onto.
