According to the report released by Johnson Matthey, platinum consumption by the jewellery market in China reached 54 tons. This is 80% up on the previous year, and now China’s platinum sales account for 1/3 of this kind of jewelry sold across the globe.
“The white dress along with a platinum ring looks even better”, Chinese brides believe nowadays. World gold prices have soared, while platinum prices remain flat. According to one of the newly-married spouses, before the wedding he made a tour of many jewellery stores in Shanghai searching for gold wedding rings, but found nothing suitable. To this, the young man’s bride remarked, that gold wedding rings is the tradition of their parents’ generation, while the present-day youth more often prefer platinum for their wedding rings which is considered more stylish and modern.
The report also informed, that in the traditional Chinese culture number “9” means “long-long years”, and therefore it was 2009 as the year chosen by many couples in China to tie the knot. Although so far there is no exact figure for those married in 2009, according to preliminary estimates the number of married couples went up by 10.8 % reaching over 1 million. It is supposed, that next year this figure will continue to grow.
The preference of platinum to gold in China also has marked radical changes in the country’s culture. Formerly the Chinese gave their traditional preference to gold wedding rings which, as they used to believe, were more in harmony with red wedding dresses of brides. Today more and more Chinese brides choose white dresses and platinum rings for their wedding celebration.
According to the data provided by the Chinese Ministry of Trade, last year platinum sales gained only 4 million yuans, while only in the first three quarters of this year there were sold over 4 million yuan worth of platinum jewelry. In the opinion of experts, this year platinum sales will easily reach 5 million yuans.
The statistics released by major shopping centers in China prove that platinum sales in the second half of this year zoomed by 33%, and by the end of the year it is expected that platinum sales will boost even more.
Mr. Wen Wangyu heading the Platinum Guild International China said in his interview that platinum jewelry sales in China increased by 60%, raising their growth rate by 9% compared with one year ago.
Mr. Wen Wangyu also stated that last year China’s platinum sales were up by more than 50% turning the country into the largest platinum consumer in the world, which left far behind Japan and the United States occupying the second and third places accordingly. More than 25% of purchases were wedding jewellery pieces.
As a result of the world economic perturbations, which undoubtedly affected China’s domestic jewelry market, platinum prices fluctuating around 500 yuans per gram in the beginning of 2008 have now dropped to 400 yuans.
Yekaterina Davydova, Rough&Polished Asian Bureau Editor in Beijing
