At moment i am in India at my friends wedding. Last night with bottle of Gentleman Jack we discuss many subjects including gold also . Next year is his sister wedding and he say me that buy lot of gold for this event, for around 200k CNY approximately 30k USD, so IMHO based on average price of 1500 USD bcoz of premiums quantity is around 20oz. They r average Indian family. Indian population is growing approximately 1,6% per year , customs and population growth is similar in Pakistan and Bangladesh too, probably in surrounding countries too. India ,Pakistan, Bangladesh have now 1.5 billion people together, so in next year will be new 24000000 people more or 12 million new marriages to be made or 240 million oz or around 800 tons of Gold to be used only for this purpose. But what is more important he say to me that gold in India is same like money , have same liquidity and be change everywhere for cash.He also is buying platinum as well. IMHO i dont see what need to happened to stop Indians to buy gold, bubble may occur but inidans will still buy golds bcoz it is traditions. And there is also lot Indian people oversee as well. If i make some mistakes in calculation please correct me, still little bit under influence of Jack...
Mickey, What will happen to that 800 tons of gold when it is purchased and 'spent' at the wedding? I presume that most if not all will be used to buy stuff such as the ceremony itself, or a house or whatever. It will probably not go into a hole in the back yard. Thus it will circulate and remain in India somewhere. And I assume this has been going on for generations. Please elaborate? OC
As I understand it, Indians for a long time have measured their wealth in how much gold they own. Sure business and ability to make a good income are important but the number of ounces are a measure of your wealth in India. Do we have any Indians on the forum that can confirm this? Cheers Chris
Most gold wedding gifts are given in the form of jewellery. This is kept and passed down to children for generations. I have never heard of anyone selling their jewellery, they tend to have it re-fashioned instead.
In addition to which all the old silver jewellery is being swapped out for gold jewellery now the wealth is increasing, apparently a cause of the low silver prices at the beginning of the year when all that silver came onto the market. I have been to a couple of weddings and it is amazing that the bride can even walk under the weight. Talking to the groom he said he had received 5 sets of jewellery, head pieces, necklaces, bangles rings the lot. I got them toaster!
It's very well known that Indian jewellery gold is usually 22-24 carat as a standard. This is simply another way to hold your wealth.
True, when I was over there last it was difficult to find 18 carat, and you can forget about 9 carat.
Mi Lao Shu wrote-''IMHO i dont see what need to happened to stop Indians to buy gold, bubble may occur but inidans will still buy golds bcoz it is traditions. And there is also lot Indian people oversee as well''. Will be easier for you to stop Chinese from buying gold like they used to
harder also for people to gt married according to bloomberg in those countries cause gold is so expensive. The see it as a curse when you have for eg 5 daughters cause you need dowry for all 5 in form of gold otherwwise hard finding a match
This is a great tradition to start in Australia!! Especially since all my offspring are boys!!!!! Seriously though, why not? Rather than dower the girls, dower both. I know of Greeks and Cypriots who give the new couple a house and start a war with their new in-laws, because they wanted to give them a house. Lets start a new tradition of giving gold and silver to kids for their birthdays/Christmas/engagements/baptisms (Ok you get the idea) instead of all this ........... stuff that's advertised that lasts a week and then fails.
As far as this 800 tons is concerned then, the actual gold is mostly in the form of jewellery and STAYS in the form of jewellery afterwards.
BTW, is it a coincidence that the two oldest civilisations in the world are hot on collecting gold and silver? I think not.
@ Old Codger it is stay with family and pass to next generation,, in first 6 months India already import 553 tons of gold so they expect that total import for this year be above 1000 tons, and price to rise during festivals.
Used to be that way, but it is less and less common with the younger generation. As far as weddings are concerned it is a long time tradition to give gold jewelery and usually it is kept in the family. however more and more is being sold off either for property etc. for muslims also it is a requirement that the girl should receive gold when married. Last few years people in india/bangladesh/pakistan have been into property but you will find the older generations will have safes/vaults at home stacked with their jewelery or gold/silver. they know its money, the younger generation are a bit clueless.
I've been to India this year and I can't share opinion about their attachment into stacking gold and silver. Their jewelry is mostly crappy 'cause you never now how was it graded and when. Only buying from a respectable company will give you some sense of guarantee. My friend had bought a silver flute and it fell apart lately - had copper inside. Selling gold and silver back for cash to dealer is quite unreasonable - their discounts, premiums, etc. are terrible. Best to find some friends who need PMs and sell to them. Lots of brass in gold jewelry. Yes, it's a tradition to give gold in marriage but not all the families can provide much of that. The guy I know gave around 3 oz of jewelry for daughter marriage.
I've heard good reviews for Tanishq jewelers. Check the web. Government's Central Bank of India does not produce any PM coins. The State Bank of India in large cities sells self-made festival coins, though. Foreign coins sometimes available at central post offices. Import of silver and gold to India by foreigner is prohibited. Export is allowed if you carry properly signed and stamped bills.
Well , these also depend on some other facts, how many doters u have. how beautiful there r, how old ur doter is- in India u cant merry older women then u r and also is not desirable to be same age too, also is important how rich is ur family do u have big house, car... so u need to make ur doter desirable on same way gold is one of the ways. And for all of u gold bugs , this is recent photo from temple i visit few days ago: Source: Indians says it is made completely from gold from outside and inside too, they also say it were much more gold , but was taken u can guess by who For me it looks more like gold plated but that is just my opinion.
Nice foto - and yeah, it must be gold plated - if it were not it would be more worth than the Indian Reserve Bank.
