CRI听力:Personalized Jewelry in China

Mr. Zhang and his girlfriend Miss Zhu are going to get married next year. Right now, they are facing hard decisions when choosing a diamond ring: they can not find a ring with both a good design and a high quality diamond. So they have decided to buy a tailor made one.

"We can't find a ready made ring which perfectly satisfies us. Although there may be such a ring, it may not fit my finger."

"The most amazing thing is that the ring can be designed according to our requirements."

The two carat diamond ring Mr. Zhang has ordered sells for 400 thousand yuan if it is a ready made piece, but this customized item is only costing him 80% of that price.

Tailor made jewelry is becoming increasingly popular among young people in big cities. Many people have bought or are thinking about buying customized jewelry. But due to the lack of experienced Jewelry designers, Chinese jewelry companies have had to invite western designers to create patterns, and the customers can only choose among these patterns. This means that genuine customized jewelry is still rare and very expensive in China. Blues Harding, a famous jewelry designer, describes how to make a tailor made ring.

"We find the stone; I show you the design. We make the ring. It might be 2 months or 3 months before you get it. It might be 1 month, but you have to wait."

It has been reported that the value of gold, jade and jewelry traded in the Chinese market reached 300 billion yuan last year, the second highest worldwide after the US. This means that more and more western jewelry brands are rushing into the Chinese market. High-end customized jewelry pieces often sell for hundreds of thousands of Yuan. Yu Enting is the general manager of Chia Ta Jewelry Ltd.

"Jewelry in mainland China is in large demand. And most of the high end jewelry products are customized, with a much higher price than the ready made ones. And most of the customers who buy tailor made jewelry are for collection and investment. Its value can appreciate by 15% every year."

Compared to the expensive luxury international brands, some domestic jewelry companies are making semi-customized jewelry. For instance, a ring is made by a diamond provided by the customer or a loose one and a ring holder and other accessories chosen by the customer. This kind of partly tailored ring costs much less.

Owing to the easy technology of making a semi-tailored item of jewelry, some middle sized companies, even small workshops, are processing them.

Some traders use zircon to replace the diamond, which is very difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. It has been reported that there were 5 thousand complaints nationwide regarding jewelry and handicrafts in 2010, and more than 60% of them were related to quality issues. Guo Shouguo is the professor of jewelry design at the East China University of Science and Technology.

"Customers have two concerns in regards to semi-tailored jewelry, one is that they are afraid their diamond could be switched for some cheap stones, the other is that they are afraid their diamond could be damaged during the processing."

Professor Guo suggests that the customers should get their jewelry appraised by a qualified organization before giving it to the processor, and appraise it with the same organization after it's processed.

For CRI, I'm Ningjing.