International News
Tonnage demand in China for gold jewellery stays tepid, consumer spending on gold jewellery was robust:WGC
In the first two months of 2025, during the Chinese New Year festive season, gold bars, coins and ETFs saw an uptick in demand driven by several factors – such as gold’s global stability as an investment asset & China’s sluggish economic growth coupled with the Yuan’s volatility. While gold jewellery demand also showed some improvement, it remained weak when measured in tonnage.
During the lunar new year period, jewellery stores anticipated higher consumer interest as compared to previous months, according to the World Gold Council.
About 125 tonnes of gold was withdrawn from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) in January 2025. This represents a 3% rise month-on-month but well below the same period in the previous years, highlighting the soaring gold price’s negative impact on the tonnage of gold jewellery demand.
“Elevated gold prices pushed consumers more towards lightweight pieces. While tonnage demand for gold jewellery may have stayed tepid, consumer spending on gold jewellery was robust,” Roland Wang, China CEO, World Gold Council said. In China, weddings play a notable role in gold sales. However, this year may see the lowest number of marriages take place in China in 10 years and that could negatively affect gold jewellery consumption. “Mass-appeal jewellery products with lower labour charges but finer craftsmanship will continue to attract consumers,” says Wang.
So far, Chinese consumer behaviour towards gold in 2025 mirrors 2024 trends. Up until November 2024, gold reigned as the best-performing investment asset in China, with its RMB (Yuan) value appreciating nearly 28%. Gold thus drew more investors and less jewellery buyers last year. Gold bar and coin investment in the first three quarters of 2024 reached its highest level in 11 years. In contrast, demand for gold jewellery dropped to its lowest level in 14 years.
However, last year total gold consumption in China fell 10% year-on-year. As weak demand was anticipated due to slow economic growth, China imported 14% less gold in 2024 as compared to 2025, and 16% below the pre-Covid five-year average.
To uplift China’s economic condition in 2025, the Chinese government has made consumer spending its topmost priority.In a parliamentary session in Beijing, earlier this month, Chinese Premier Li Qiang promised to vigorously boost domestic consumption as the country set a 5% growth target.
This year, China has raised its budget deficit to 5.66 trillion Yuan ($780 billion) or around 4% of gross domestic product, the highest level in almost 3 decades, according to various news agency reports.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Bloomberg’s median forecast China’s GDP to grow at 4.5% in 2025, year-on-year; economic growth in China, according to the World Gold Council, will be the biggest driver for gold investments and consumption of jewellery.
As an investment asset, bar and coin sales could continue gaining momentum and any gold price adjustment could be considered a good opportunity to enter for investors in 2025.As China looks to navigate through its slow economic growth, it is exploring increased investments in assets that offer stable yields.
A new programme launched earlier in February by the National Financial Regulatory Administration of China allows the country’s insurers to invest 1% of their assets in bullion. Ten insurance firms in China including China Life Insurance Co. will be able to invest their assets in precious metals like physical gold. China is the world’s second largest insurance market, and this pilot project could unlock up to $27.4 billion in investment
International News
Mutual Engagement Ring-Wearing On The Rise, Insurance Lagging: Jewelers Mutual Group 2026 Engagement Ring Study
Jewelers Mutual Group 2026 Engagement Ring Study Finds Mutual Ring-Wearing Has Overtaken Tradition, But Insurance Hasn’t Kept Pace With How Couples Live With Their Rings.
Jewelers Mutual Group 2026 Engagement Ring Study finds mutual ring-wearing has overtaken tradition, but insurance hasn’t kept pace with how couples live with their rings.
Jewelers Mutual® Group, the jewelry insurer backed by more than 100 years of expertise, released new findings from its 2026 Engagement Ring Study, examining how couples shop for, wear and protect one of the most meaningful purchases of their lives, and where coverage often falls short. Results indicated that as ring-wearing norms shift, protection habits haven’t caught up, leaving a growing gap between what couples own and what they cover.
The generational split is wide. More than 80% of couples ages 55 to 64 both wear a ring, compared with just 43% of couples ages 18 to 24, suggesting mutual ring-wearing, while now the norm overall, is still catching on among the couples getting engaged today.
The risk window opens well before anyone gets down on one knee. Forty-one percent of proposers hold onto the ring for more than a month before proposing, and nearly half (45%) store it somewhere unsecured, like a drawer or closet, in the meantime.
Once the ring goes on, it tends to stay on. Ninety percent of wearers travel with their engagement ring, and most don’t take it off for everyday activities that put it at risk, including cooking (60%), sleeping (60%) and hiking (65%).
The financial exposure is real: 62% of respondents count their engagement ring among the three most expensive things they own. Yet among uninsured wearers whose ring was damaged, 55% never had it repaired.
Couples should take a few key steps to protect an engagement ring:
- Purchase insurance before or at the time of the proposal, not after
- Document the ring with photographs and a professional appraisal
- Store the ring in a safe or safety deposit box before the proposal
- Consider specialized jewelry insurance, which covers loss, theft and damage that standard homeowners or renters’ policies may not adequately address
Design or uniqueness remains the top factor in choosing a ring, cited by 52% of respondents, far ahead of price, stone size and brand. Solitaire settings have become the most popular choice since 2024, now making up 37% of rings versus 22% two years ago, and white gold remains the most common metal, though preference in platinum has grown considerably.
Budget confidence tracks with intention, not price point: respondents who set a ring budget based on personal comfort, rather than an external benchmark, report the highest confidence in their purchase and the lowest financial stress about it. That deliberateness carries past the purchase, too.
Among wearers who don’t yet own their final ring, 84% say they’re still actively researching options, a sign that even once a ring is on, the decision-making isn’t necessarily over. When couples do seek guidance on insuring what they’ve chosen, they turn to people they trust: jewelers rank as the second most trusted source for jewelry care recommendations, behind only family.
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