CAIRO - The high gold prices before Eid el-Adha, which is considered a wedding season, have compelled many would-be Egyptian brides to feverishly buy Chinese gold and gold-plated jewellery items. The rise of gold prices, which reached more than 1,000 dollars an ounce, is strongly felt here by customers and the jewellery shops, Ehab Wafi, a shop owner, said. "During the past 45 days, the price of one gramme of gold has increased by LE30. This increase has raised the sales of Chinese gold by 30 per cent," Ehab said. Women are now turning to Chinese jewellery because they have the glitz and their prices are low, he added. "While one gramme of 18-crate gold is sold for LE193 ($36), the price of one piece of Chinese gold-plated jewellery item ranges from LE5 to LE25," Ehab said. "The trend of buying Chinese gold picked up after the price of the precious metal began rising," he said, adding that the local prices of gold rose during the past three weeks. Therefore, demand for jewellery fell and the sales of Chinese gold went up, Ehab explained. "In recent weeks, international gold prices have soared on concerns about the declining strength of the dollar as the world's reserve currency," he said, adding that the brides-to-be shopping during the ongoing wedding season that peaks during the feast, which begins on Tuesday, buy the Chinese gold ornaments that look flashy at very affordable prices.
