In 2025 an unlikely challenger upended a three‑decade-old script of Western dominance in China’s high‑end retail: Laopu Gold, a domestic jeweller rooted in traditional techniques, became the Chinese brand of choice in flagship malls from SKP to MixC. Long queues at these stores, alongside sales performance that outstrips some international names, are visible evidence of a deeper shift in how wealthy Chinese consumers now think about luxury.
The change is not simply national pride. Global consultancies flagged broader structural pressures on the luxury sector that help explain Laopu’s ascent. Bain & Company warned at the end of 2025 that the industry faces a crossroads of price and perceived value; growth is slowing and the universe of active luxury customers in China has contracted from roughly 400 million in 2022 to about 330 million in 2025. Consumption is migrating toward domestic labels and experience‑led categories as buyers grow more selective.
Laopu’s proposition is the inverse of the conspicuous‑logo model that fuelled decades of luxury expansion. Rather than amplify social status through visible branding, Laopu foregrounds craft, cultural symbolism and time‑rich value: hand‑chiselled goldwork, filigree, hammering and other premodern techniques that cannot be mass produced. Its pieces are sold and staged as cultural objects rather than commodity investments in bullion or badges of wealth.
That repositioning taps into a wider change in consumer psychology. Where logo‑led purchases once served as an external certificate of status, many affluent Chinese customers now prefer products that express identity through lineage, taste and provenance. Analysts point to a precedent in Japan: after its asset bubble burst, conspicuous consumption gave way to quieter, non‑branded forms of distinction. Chinese buyers appear to be travelling a similar path, choosing signs of cultural depth over instantly legible emblems.
Laopu has fortified the product story with environment and service. Stores are conceived as tastefully curated spaces—often with references to Ming‑style study rooms—where staff act as cultural custodians and guide customers through narrative, ritual and provenance. That experiential architecture converts purchase into immersion, helping Laopu decouple price points from gold‑price volatility and enabling durable pricing power, HSBC says.
Market data and industry responses underline the commercial stakes. In 2025 Laopu became the only Chinese brand represented across China’s top ten commercial centres and reported half‑year store revenues approaching RMB 500m in some locations, figures that outpace many first‑tier international maisons. HSBC and financial advisers at Rothschild have suggested Laopu’s revenue could rival or exceed the China jewellery revenues of major European groups such as Richemont. Executives from LVMH and Richemont have reportedly travelled to study Laopu’s model.
The implications are twofold. For Western luxury houses the Laopu phenomenon is a summons to rethink global strategies—branding that relies on conspicuous symbology may need to be complemented by deeper, culturally resonant narratives and demonstrable craftsmanship. For Chinese brands it demonstrates a credible path to luxury leadership that rests on authenticity and heritage rather than price or marketing alone.
Risks remain. Scaling artisanal techniques without diluting authenticity is difficult; imitators and fast followers will test Laopu’s uniqueness. Regulators, raw material cycles and shifts in prestige norms could also reshape outcomes. Nonetheless, the case shows how cultural capital and immersive retail can become a new axis of competitive advantage in luxury, not only in China but in any market where consumers are rethinking the meaning of