Editor’s Note
As gold prices remain volatile, consumer interest in jewelry purchases persists, reflecting both cultural traditions and investment considerations. This article explores the current market dynamics and consumer sentiment.
“I didn’t expect it to still be above 1,500 yuan,” said Ms. Xu from Hangzhou on the evening of the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Horse, while shopping for bracelets with a friend at a gold store in a mall. The price of gold jewelry that day was 1,529 yuan per gram. Ms. Xu remarked that this price wasn’t much lower than the over 1,600 yuan per gram at the end of January. However, the salesperson calmly told her:
In the end, after a per-gram discount promotion, Ms. Xu spent nearly 20,000 yuan on a gold gourd pendant.
Just over two months into 2026, the international precious metals market has experienced intense roller-coaster volatility. Building on the gains of the previous two years, spot gold surged to a historic peak of nearly $5,600 per ounce on January 29, only to plunge below $4,500 per ounce just two trading days later on February 2, experiencing a swing of over 20% in just three trading sessions. In recent days, it has been seesawing around the $5,000 per ounce mark. Spot silver’s performance has been even more dramatic, plummeting 26% the day after hitting a new high of $121.647 per ounce on January 29. Currently, spot silver is trading below $80 per ounce.
On February 12, Ms. Zhou, a white-collar worker in Gongshu District, Hangzhou, received her year-end bonus. At noon that same day, she went to the Hangzhou Baima Jewelry Market and spent over 110,000 yuan to purchase a 100-gram gold bar.
Ms. Zhou immediately took a photo of the gold bar with its packaging and posted it in her family’s “Dear Family” group chat. Her father quickly replied in the group:
Ms. Zhou told reporters that this was her first time buying a gold bar. She had planned to buy when she saw the gold price dip earlier, and if the price drops again, she intends to buy some bank gold accumulation products later.
A client manager at a joint-stock bank in Hangzhou’s Qianjiang Century City told reporters that during the recent gold price correction, some gold-preferring clients have been buying on dips with strong willingness. Before the Spring Festival, the bank’s physical gold bar shipments couldn’t even guarantee delivery times due to high demand. The client manager said these clients typically buy gold in multiple batches over time, primarily for long-term value preservation.