Treasure hunt for the Year of the Rat

Trendy jewellery a top seller in Hangzhou.

The Laomiao Jewelry counter in the Hangzhou Department Store saw business growing in November. Leaning against the showcases and holding plastic-sealed gold bars in hand, customers were all ears as sales staff outlined the benefits of investing in precious metals. The soaring gold price and high-profile launch of Year of the Rat gold bars have attracted a lot of early shoppers for Lunar New Year presents.

Meanwhile, limited editions of Year of the Rat silver bars were issued in Beijing by the China Gold Coins Corporation, with the Shanghai Gold Coins Co acting as sole agent. This is the first time commemorative zodiac silver bars have been issued.

Jewellery shops couldn’t wait to launch Lunar New Year merchandise, with the Year of the Rat about three months away. Commemorative gold bars and solid gold pendants are now prominently displayed in all shops. Some large, decorative pieces for the Lunar New Year are even displayed in shop windows. A tussle between gold and silver for sales has broken out long before Chinese New Year.

Jewellers like Chow Tai Fook, Shanghai Laofengxiang and Chow Sang Sang have noticed that people were not so keen in the past to shop for the Lunar New Year so early. This is no longer the case. The season has started early and there’s plenty to choose from. That’s apparently due to the growing interest in gold as an investment in the second half of the year.

Chow Sang Sang’s special counters have had ornamental pieces arriving in Hangzhou during November. These include pure gold Year of the Rat pendants, decorative objects weighing less than 10g, and commemorative gold bars of various sizes.
Although a full range of gold pendants is not yet available, there is a short supply of gold bars weighing over 50g each, with many customers placing advance orders.

Chow Sang Sang launches its Lunar New Year selection.
Shanghai Laofengxiang (Hangzhou) Gold City is also stocking plenty of Lunar New Year items. With 2008 being Olympics Year, the company is linking the Lunar New Year with the Olympics Games. An executive for Laofengxiang says that in addition to gold products as in previous years, this year’s new stock includes some “Bird’s Nest” ornaments (Bird’s Nest is the main venue for the Beijing Olympic track and field events) intended to give Hangzhou customers advance souvenirs.
Silver as good as gold

To many people, gold makes the best Lunar New Year present. However, the launch of commemorative silver bars in Beijing’s consumer market this year has made a splash.

Year of the Rat silver bars are available in five sizes, including 1,000g, 500g, 200g, 100g and 50g, priced at Rmb6,900, Rmb3,500, Rmb1,380, Rmb720 and Rmb360 respectively. There was a queue of more than 100 people on the morningthey were launch in Beijing. One customer bought 100 50g bars and 10 100g bars in one transaction.

However, commemorative silver bars are barely visible in Hangzhou. Industry analysis shows that Hangzhou citizens have always shown a keen interest in gold ornaments as a result of the advertising blitz and because gold is a hard currency. Meanwhile, silver (even of the same investment value) has been generally ignored.

Many experts believe that investing in silver is just as worthwhile as investing in gold. The silver price is now Rmb10/g and it’s been at this level since soaring from Rmb8/g two years ago.

The low unit-price of silver bars gives ordinary investors an alternative investment opportunity. The price disparity between gold and silver, both of which are precious metals, can satisfy the investment needs of people at different levels, with silver jewellery craftsmanship appealing to younger people.

http://925silverjewellery.blogspot.com/2008/01/treasure-hunt-for-year-of-rat-hk-tdc.html

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