Gold hike stokes concerns for the soon-to-wed

For a week now, Hoang and Ngan, two factory workers and lovers in Binh Chanh’s Tan Tao Industrial Zone, have spent every hour of their spare time at a jewelry shop in nearby Binh Tan district.

With gold jewelry a substantial part of dowry in every Vietnamese wedding, young couples are worried they can’t afford their big day as gold price skyrocketed during the past weeks Photo: Vnexpress

Although their wedding is just seven days away, the pair has not found a pair of wedding rings that will not leave a hole in their pocket.

As gold prices shot up to a striking VND 46 million (US$2,219) a tael Tuesday morning last week, from VND 39 million in mid-July, the bride- and groom-to-be’s hope of purchasing a pair of gold rings of half of a tael (1 tael = 3.75gr) for their wedding ceremony seemed dashed.

Making only VND 2 million each with a savings of no more than VND 500,000 a month, Hoang and Ngan decided to stick around the jeweler’s in hope of finally getting hold of something within their reach.

“Although the price has dropped to VND 44 million a tael this week, it is still beyond our reach. As we have to pay for many other things, probably we will opt for some cheap rings of one-fifth or one-third of a tael.

“If worst comes to worst, we’ll settle for a cheap pair though, as we can’t do without gold rings in the ceremony,” said the bride-to-be, Ngan, sadly.

A gold jewelry set, including a necklace, a pair of rings and ear rings and a bracelet, has long been part of a compulsory dowry for brides in Vietnamese weddings.

Faced with the steep price increase, many low-income couples have no choice but struggle to purchase at least a cheap pair of rings.

Hoang, another worker at a packaging factory in Binh Chanh district has lived with the barest of necessities since January to save up for his wedding in September, hoping he can afford a simple ceremony and a pair of rings for his fianceé.

But with the sudden hike in price this August, Hoang said he could not afford even the cheapest rings without borrowing from friends.

White-collar workers with a higher pay check said they also felt the heat of the chaotic gold market.

Ha, a company officer in District 3, intended to buy at least a tael of gold for the wedding she and her fiancé planned 6 months ago but now has to adjust her plan and ambition.

“We know that the price never goes down and only increases, but we were completely shocked at how high it skyrocketed recently.

“At this price, we have to cut down half of the amount of jewelry we planned to purchase, but that is totally fine with me,” she said.

As the gold market has shown signs of easing up this week, with a tael costing VND 44 million, many couples planning to tie the knot next year have chosen to buy gold now for fear of an even more exorbitant price in coming months.

Huy Quang, an electronic officer in Binh Thanh district, said he would marry his long time girlfriend next year but decided to avoid a possible price shock by buying gold now.

“I feel lucky being financially able to do that. Many of my friends have to borrow gold jewelries for their ceremonies or even delay their wedding day,” he said.

A jeweler’s owner in Tan Dinh market, District 1 also said she received an unusually high number of customers recently whose weddings were 2 to 3 months away.

The wedding season has not arrived yet, said another jeweler in Ba Chieu market, Binh Thanh district, and normally customers seldom purchase jewelries during an inflated period, but the recent price hike seems to have drawn many of them to the store to buy the precious metal, lest they find themselves caught between a rock and hard place a few months from now. – SGGP

Tags: vietnam gold, Vietnam gold market, Vietnam gold prices