China’s Gold Jewelry Market Faces Sharp Correction After Historic Price Surge

The Chinese gold jewelry market is experiencing a significant pullback after hitting record-high prices just days ago.

Major luxury jewelry retailers are slashing their per-gram pricing as international gold prices take a nosedive, signaling a major shift in the precious metals landscape.

Here’s what’s actually happening—and what it means for investors watching this space.

Gold Jewelry Prices Are Dropping Fast (After Reaching All-Time Highs)

China’s gold jewelry market just experienced one of its wildest swings in recent memory.

Just a few days ago, major brands hit historic pricing milestones above ¥1,700 RMB ($234.60 USD) per gram.

Now they’re retreating hard.

By January 31, 2026, the market had already corrected significantly:

• Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福) quoted gold jewelry at ¥1,625 RMB ($224.25 USD) per gram
• Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生) reported ¥1,618 RMB ($223.28 USD) per gram

That’s a massive drop from where these same brands were pricing just two days earlier.

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The Price Collapse: A 48-Hour Breakdown

• Chow Tai Fook: -¥81 RMB (-5.3%)
• Chow Sang Sang: -¥90 RMB (-5.3%)
• Market Trend: Sharp Correction

The velocity of this correction is what makes it notable.

Let’s look at the actual numbers:

January 29 (Peak Pricing)

• Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福): ¥1,706 RMB ($235.43 USD) per gram
• Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生): ¥1,708 RMB ($235.70 USD) per gram

January 30 (First Correction)

• Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福): ¥1,685 RMB ($232.53 USD) per gram (down ¥21 RMB / $2.90 USD)
• Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生): ¥1,683 RMB ($232.25 USD) per gram (down ¥25 RMB / $3.45 USD)

January 31 (Second Correction)

• Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福): ¥1,625 RMB ($224.25 USD) per gram (down ¥60 RMB / $8.28 USD)
• Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生): ¥1,618 RMB ($223.28 USD) per gram (down ¥65 RMB / $8.97 USD)

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The Total Damage: Two Days of Losses

When you step back and look at the cumulative impact over this 48-hour window, it’s genuinely steep:

• Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福) dropped ¥81 RMB ($11.18 USD) total per gram
• Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生) dropped ¥90 RMB ($12.42 USD) total per gram

That’s roughly a 5.3% decline for Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福) and a 5.3% decline for Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生) in just two trading days.

For context, that’s not typical volatility for the gold jewelry retail market.

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What’s Actually Driving This Correction?

The answer isn’t complicated: international gold markets are experiencing what analysts are calling “crash-like” movements.

And when the wholesale bullion markets move that aggressively, retail pricing follows quickly.

Here’s how the mechanism works:

• Global gold futures trade 24/5 on exchanges like the Shanghai Futures Exchange (Shanghai Qihuo Jiaoyisuo 上海期货交易所)
• Spot price changes cascade down to major jewelry retailers within hours
• Retail pricing adjusts to maintain margin profiles and stay competitive
• Consumer-facing quotations reflect the new reality almost immediately

China’s precious metals market is tightly integrated with global benchmarks, so there’s basically no lag between international volatility and domestic pricing.

Why This Matters for Investors and Traders

If you’re paying attention to the Chinese luxury goods market or the broader precious metals sector, this correction is a useful signal.

It tells us several things:

• Retail price stickiness is lower than expected — These major brands will adjust pricing rapidly when wholesale costs shift
• Consumer demand might be price-sensitive — If people were buying aggressively at ¥1,700 RMB ($234.60 USD) per gram, the rapid drop suggests price-seeking behavior rather than pure investment demand
• International volatility directly impacts mainland China — There’s no decoupling between global and domestic gold markets at the retail level
• Major jewelry brands move in lockstep — Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福) and Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生) are pricing within 1-2% of each other, indicating a competitive, efficient market

The real question now is whether this correction is temporary or signals a broader shift in gold jewelry demand and consumer sentiment in China.

Given that these brands just hit all-time highs days ago, and we’re already seeing 5%+ pullbacks, it’s worth watching what happens next in the gold jewelry pricing landscape.

References

• Gold Jewelry Prices Fall Two Days in a Row – Yicai (Di Yi Cai Jing 第一财经)
• Official Gold Retail Rates – Chow Tai Fook (Zhou Dafu 周大福)
• Jewelry Price Index and Trends – Chow Sang Sang (Zhou Shengsheng 周生生)
• Market Data and Precious Metals Reports – Shanghai Futures Exchange (Shanghai Qihuo Jiaoyisuo 上海期货交易所)