Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Indian Brides Replace Traditional Gold Jewelry as Prices Rise

December gold was recently down another $15.00 at $753.00.
In July '07 we had a post, "EU Emission Caps, Kyoto and Three Ancient Civilizations" in which I recounted some Kyoto Protocol history and told one of my favorite low-I.Q. indicator stories:
...There is no perfect answer but Kyoto wasn't even close.

The Europeans thought they were gaming the "Cap" by backdating the start date.
The Americans thought they were gaming the treaty by insisting on "Trade".

The Indians and Chinese said "Sure, send us the money".

The Westerners thought they would out-negotiate people who've been negotiating for 5000 years.

As a side note, in December 1979, as silver was making its historic run, an old Jewish trader told me he was lightening up on Ag.

When I asked why he said "I hear the Indian ladies are taking their bracelets off and they've been trading it longer than I have".
Today Bloomberg relays:
..."Gold is too hot now,'' says the 25-year-old fashion designer from Kolkata, eastern India, who'll spend 15,000 rupees ($305) on her bridal set instead of 160,000 rupees for a real one. ``You can't touch it.''

Lahiri's not alone. Indian families, the world's biggest buyers of gold, are canceling purchases before the peak wedding season because prices have touched a record high in India, putting traditional bridal sets out of reach. That's spurred sales of gold-plated, silver and brass gem-encrusted jewelry, designed to match the bride's wedding saris.

``People are not willing to be victims of high gold prices and are instead going for glittering imitations,'' said Roli Malhotra, head of marketing at Sia Lifestyles Pvt Ltd., a 24-outlet chain of fashion jewelry stores based in Mumbai. ``Sales of imitation bridal sets are on the rise.">>>MORE