At the start of 2026 China’s gold and jewellery market experienced a sudden, industry-wide repricing. Laopu Gold — a heritage brand that sells artisan, one-price gold pieces rather than charging strictly by gram — led the surge with a single round of hikes of 20–30%, the largest in its history, and triggered synchronized buying both online and in flagship stores.
Queues formed outside Laopu boutiques in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou in the final days before the announced adjustment. The brand announced a forthcoming repricing on February 18, set to take effect February 28, and shoppers rushed to lock in prior prices; Laopu’s Tmall flagship reported RMB 300 million in sales within one second of a promotion and more than RMB 1 billion for the day.
The striking anomaly is psychological as much as economic: higher prices have not deterred buyers. Collectible pieces — a gold bowl, a gourd pendant and a gold toad priced at hundreds of thousands of yuan — sold out within minutes, and customers who failed to buy online one day then queued at physical stores the next.
Part of the explanation is that Laopu has deliberately repositioned itself from traditional jewellery maker to quasi-luxury house. It bundles artisanal “ancient technique” craft, originality and perceived scarcity into a fixed retail price, breaking the conventional “spot price plus fabrication” model followed by mainstream firms such as Chow Tai Fook and Chow Sang Sang.
That repositioning has reshaped secondary-market behaviour. Unlike typical gold jewellery, which is recycled at melt value, Laopu pieces are increasingly traded in second-hand channels at prices calculated relative to official retail tags rather than strictly by weight. Resale gains are now common anecdotes among buyers and have reinforced the expectation that these pieces can appreciate.
Macro forces are tightening the backdrop. International gold reached a near-term high of roughly $5,595 per ounce in early 2026 and major banks have lifted year-end targets, with some forecasts as high as $6,000 an ounce. Brands across the sector have raised prices in step: after Laopu’s move, rivals including Chow Sang Sang, Chao Hongji, Baolan and Linchao announced increases of typically 10–30%.
The risk to Laopu and peers is structural. Over the past two years Laopu’s catalogue prices have effectively nearly doubled after multiple hikes, but global gold has risen even faster — about 130% since 2024 — so sustained raw-material inflation could erode the high gross margin the brand currently enjoys. At the same time, competitors are copying ancient-tech product lines and premium positioning, narrowing the uniqueness that justifies Laopu’s pricing power.
For consumers the market now resembles an asset play as much as jewellery consumption. High-net-worth buyers treat Laopu pieces as wearables with liquidity and upside, while ordinary shoppers are chased by FOMO. Whether that mindset is durable depends on liquidity remaining in the second-hand market and on Laopu’s ability to defend both scarcity and distinctiveness as rivals scale similar offerings.