Frustrated by sharply rising gold prices during the Spring Festival shopping rush, many cautious Chinese gold buyers are opting to redesign their old jewelry instead of purchasing expensive finished gold products.
Some gold jewelers in Kunming City, southwest China's Yunnan Province have reported a notable decrease in customer traffic during the Spring Festival holiday, traditionally the peak season for gold jewelry sales.
The decline has come as a result of high prices of the precious metal, according to one of the jewelers.
"In the period around the Spring Festival holiday, the price of gold has increased by approximately 40 yuan (about 5.5 U.S. dollars) per gram. Customers' first reaction upon entering the store is that the gold prices are excessively high. So, the foot traffic has decreased by an estimated 40 to 50 percent," Gao Shunyan, a saleswoman, said.
Many staff members of gold retailers believe that consumers' wait-and-see attitude is fed by the uncertainty about where gold prices will go next.
Meanwhile, a trend of redesigning old gold jewelry and customizing new pieces has been emerging in China.
At a jewelry store located in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, five to six customers arrived with their old gold jewelry for redesign and customization as soon as the store opened in the morning. The three goldsmiths there were busy fulfilling their requests. Without changing the weight, the processing fee for remodeling jewelry is only 10 to 15 yuan (roughly 1.4 to 2 U.S. dollars) per gram. Mr. Qing brought an old gold bracelet and also bought a gold bar to create a new bracelet for his wife. The goldsmith spent over two hours completing the task.
According to Qing, cost-effectiveness and personalization are the reasons why many consumers have chosen to redesign their old jewelry.
"The jewelry brands' products sold at stores are quite expensive. It seems that they all are sold at over 800 yuan (around 110 U.S. dollars) per gram now. I bought a gold bar for processing, which is relatively more cost-effective," Qing said.
Remodeling gold jewelry gets popular in China amid surging gold prices
