China Business Etiquette

Jewelers in Shanghai are concerned rising prices will take the shine off gold and platinum and drive consumers away, but they still raise prices of the metals Friday, for the seventh time this year, to cover surging raw material costs.

From Friday, the base retail price of 24-carat gold jewelry will climb to 214 yuan (US$26.75) a gram, up eight yuan from the last hike on May 2. High purity platinum prices will jump to 376 yuan a gram from 342 yuan a gram, said the Shanghai Gold and Jewelry Trade Association Thursday.

Gold jewelry prices have gained 33.8 percent so far while prices of platinum jewelry have risen 22.9 percent in the same period.

Buyers will find local jewelry shops like Shanghai Lao Miao Jewelry and Shanghai Laofengxiang selling the yellow metal even at 218 yuan a gram, as the association allows a 3 percentage point range cap on the set rates.

Xiao Yao, a 25-year-old local woman, thought she was wise to have bought a platinum necklace on Monday as a Mother's Day present, fearing a further price hike. If she were to buy it today, it will cost her 280 yuan more for the 7.28-gram necklace. Mother's Day falls on Sunday.

.