Laopu Gold's Luxury Rise: Chinese Heritage, Soaring Sales and a Global Test

A Chinese Jeweller Wins Luxury Shoppers

Laopu Gold's revenue surged 251% to 12.35 billion yuan, about $1.72 billion, in the first half of 2025, while net income jumped 286% to 2.27 billion yuan. Those figures put the Chinese jeweller's rapid growth in sharp contrast with the sales difficulties facing Western luxury brands such as Cartier and Tiffany in China.

Known as the "Hermès of gold," Laopu has built its appeal around traditional Chinese craftsmanship, contemporary design and cultural pride. Its rise is changing the competition for wealthy Chinese shoppers, bringing a domestic name into spending decisions once dominated by European and American jewellery houses.

By August 21, 2025, the company had also begun testing that appeal abroad. Its first overseas boutique opened at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands in June, drawing queues lasting hours. Japan was confirmed as its next international destination.

Laopu's proposition brings together two attractions: gold's reputation as a store of value and the emotional appeal of a luxury object. Customers pay for the metal, but also for intricate work, Chinese symbols and the brand itself. Understanding that combination helps explain both its extraordinary growth and the risks buyers and investors face.

From a Local Shop to a National Brand

Founder Xu Gaoming, a former fisheries clerk, established Laopu in 2009. His ambition was to create jewellery for a new generation of Chinese consumers who wanted products connected to their heritage and their modern aspirations.

By 2016, Laopu had developed from a local shop into a national brand. Its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange followed in 2024. Since that listing, its share price had soared more than 2,000%, making it one of Asia's hottest consumer stocks.

The main milestones show how a business developed over 16 years became a much more visible luxury contender:

• 2009: Xu Gaoming founded Laopu.
• 2016: The business had grown from a local shop into a national brand.
• 2024: Laopu listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. During that year's Lunar New Year, customers queued for up to eight hours to buy its jewellery.
• First half of 2025: Revenue reached 12.35 billion yuan and net income reached 2.27 billion yuan.
• June 2025: Laopu opened its first overseas boutique at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Why Laopu Prices More Than the Gold

Traditional Chinese jewellers commonly price gold pieces by weight. Laopu instead uses fixed prices that include design, craftsmanship and exclusivity. A customer is buying a finished luxury item whose price reflects more than the amount of precious metal it contains.

That approach allows Laopu to charge a premium. Its pieces are positioned as luxury goods, with value attached to their appearance, workmanship and identity, alongside the gold itself. The business therefore competes for shoppers choosing jewellery as personal adornment and a statement of taste, as well as those drawn to the metal.

Laopu uses ancient techniques such as filigree inlay and gold hammering. Its designs feature dragons, phoenixes, lotus flowers and auspicious gourds, giving familiar Chinese imagery a place in contemporary jewellery.

The brand's bestselling gourd pendant illustrates the approach. It serves as a fashion accessory and a talisman believed to bring good fortune. Collections connected to myths, legends and auspicious symbols give customers a personal or cultural reason to choose one piece over another.

Laopu combines Chinese goldsmithing traditions with the elegance and refinement associated with Western luxury houses. That positioning attracts traditional gold buyers and younger shoppers focused on design who might otherwise choose Cartier or Bulgari.

Scarcity Shapes the Shopping Experience

Laopu had just over 40 stores across China by the middle of 2025. Its boutiques often occupy luxury malls, where a carefully arranged shopping experience places the jewellery alongside other expensive brands competing for the same customers.

The company supports its sense of exclusivity by limiting its store network and producing limited edition collections. Customers waiting as long as eight hours during the 2024 Lunar New Year made that demand visible. Queues also helped strengthen the impression that its pieces were scarce and desirable.

Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book, has helped spread that appeal. Users sharing purchases expose more shoppers to Laopu's designs and encourage fear of missing out, often shortened to FOMO. Social media attention and the experience of buying in a boutique reinforce each other.

Laopu's matte finishes and subtle designs also suit younger consumers moving away from conspicuous displays of wealth. For those buyers, a piece can carry meaning through its craftsmanship or symbolism without relying on an immediately recognisable Western luxury name.

Why Chinese Buyers Are Changing Their Choices

Western brands including Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Cartier have long served as status symbols for China's growing middle and upper classes. Laopu's popularity reflects a change in what some of those consumers want their purchases to express.

The guochao trend, literally translated as "national tide," describes growing pride in Chinese culture and products. Jewellery drawing on Chinese heritage gives shoppers a way to show that identity through something they wear.

China's economic uncertainty adds another reason for interest in gold. A property downturn and trade tensions with the United States have made the metal's reputation as a store of value more attractive. Laopu brings that attraction together with design and emotional meaning, although the premium paid for a branded piece matters when it is resold.

Vivian Wang, a Shanghai sales and marketing professional who has bought jewellery from major international houses, described a change in what she sought after the pandemic:

I'm a jewellery lover. Tiffany, Cartier or Bulgari, these are all brands I have bought. But after the pandemic, people want to pursue something more elevated that offers some spiritual sustenance.

Wang's experience captures the personal side of the shift. Laopu offers buyers a way to combine style with cultural pride and symbolic meaning. Its appeal reaches consumers familiar with international luxury, rather than depending solely on people making their first expensive jewellery purchase.

Sales Growth Raises the Stakes

Laopu's first half results for 2025 showed rapid growth inside existing shops as well as across the business. Revenue at comparable stores rose just over 200% from a year earlier. This measure tracks growth at established locations, helping show how much more customers are spending through the existing network.

The company's 251% revenue increase meant sales were about 3.5 times their level a year earlier. Net income, which rose 286%, grew to almost 3.9 times its earlier level. Profit therefore increased faster than revenue during the period.

Laopu's average store revenue surpassed that of most international jewellery brands operating in China. Its flagship at Beijing's SKP Mall was a major contributor to gold sales in the capital, supporting its reputation as a "single-store king." Strong customer engagement and sales per location are central to that standing.

Xu, Laopu's chairman, has set a target of 1 billion yuan in annual sales per store and plans to close locations generating less than 500 million yuan. Those ambitions show how much the company expects from each boutique while keeping its network limited.

Citigroup analysts found that nearly 80% of Laopu's customers overlapped with customers of five global luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Cartier. Put simply, close to four in five were also shopping within that group of established luxury names.

Laopu is therefore competing for existing luxury spending, including purchases by affluent customers who previously favoured Western labels. Its growth comes as many international luxury retailers in China face weaker consumer confidence and changing tastes.

Singapore Opens an International Test

Laopu's June 2025 opening at Marina Bay Sands took the business into a luxury shopping destination used by Singapore residents and Chinese tourists. Customers queued for hours, and the boutique quickly became a destination for jewellery enthusiasts.

Singapore offers a receptive starting point because of its large ethnic Chinese population and its role as a global financial hub. The store is the first of four planned international locations, with Japan confirmed as the next market. No opening date for Japan was given.

Laopu brought signature gourd necklaces and other designs rooted in Chinese culture to Singapore. It also introduced an exclusive gold cross set with diamonds for local customers, showing how its overseas assortment could combine familiar brand symbols with pieces suited to a new audience.

Jessie Lim, a Singaporean customer, pointed to the detail of the jewellery when explaining her impression:

The designs are very exquisite. Even the wings of the butterfly are double-layered. There are also diamonds inset into the pieces.

Lim's reaction highlights an important part of the international test: whether buyers respond to the workmanship as well as the cultural stories behind the pieces. The opening attracted new fans, while the wider expansion will test Laopu's ability to build demand across different markets.

Global Rivals Face a Domestic Challenger

Richemont, the owner of Cartier, has warned investors about Laopu's rise. Executives at LVMH have also acknowledged the growing challenge from domestic Chinese jewellery houses. Laopu's growth is attracting attention beyond its own customers and shareholders.

Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont, described the cultural appeal behind the company's success:

Laopu's success demonstrates how jewellery is a culturally driven market, and that turning cultural heritage into a brand is a valid path.

Laopu's position brings it into competition with established domestic jewellers Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang and Lao Feng Xiang, as well as international names such as Cartier and Bulgari. Rivals are adapting by introducing their own collections inspired by heritage.

Western brands accustomed to strong growth in China now face consumers who have more domestic alternatives. Local tastes, cultural storytelling and new designs have become central to that competition. Laopu's customer overlap with international houses makes the contest especially direct.

The wider shift reaches beyond jewellery into fashion, cosmetics, automobiles and collectibles. Consumers seeking authenticity, craftsmanship and emotional meaning are giving domestic brands new opportunities. Laopu's results provide a particularly striking example of that change.

Growth Brings Questions About Value and Prestige

Laopu's expansion comes with several commercial risks. China's market for jewellery inspired by traditional gold craftsmanship has grown quickly, but demand may soften if consumers become more cautious. Further increases in gold prices could encourage shoppers to wait before buying.

Resale value is another concern for customers. Laopu's purchase prices include premiums for design and branding, and its pieces do not retain resale value in proportion to those prices in the way buyers might expect from bullion or jewellery bought primarily for its gold content. The amount recovered when selling may give much less weight to the original craftsmanship and brand premium.

Laopu also needs to protect profitability while expanding abroad and increasing production. New markets and a larger business could become harder to manage if consumer enthusiasm weakens or economic conditions deteriorate.

Some consumers still place Laopu below European luxury houses in prestige. Building a lasting global luxury identity will require the company to address that perception while preserving the exclusivity and cultural relevance that helped it grow at home.

Li Jie, director of the Luxury Brand Research Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, placed the recent surge in the context of the company's longer development:

So far so good, but I'm not sure whether they will continue to be successful or not. Laopu's rise over the last two or three years is based on 16 years of effort, and a product that effectively addresses the functional, emotional and social needs of middle-class Chinese consumers.

Laopu's next stage depends on balancing those needs with its commercial ambitions. Its jewellery combines a tangible material, intricate design and cultural meaning. Maintaining that appeal while opening more stores and serving customers abroad is the practical challenge behind its ambition to become a global luxury brand.

Key Points

• Laopu's revenue rose 251% to 12.35 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, while net income increased 286% to 2.27 billion yuan.
• Founded by Xu Gaoming in 2009, the company listed in Hong Kong in 2024. Its shares subsequently rose more than 2,000%.
• Fixed prices, traditional craftsmanship and Chinese cultural symbols allow Laopu to charge for design and branding as well as gold.
• The brand had just over 40 stores across China by the middle of 2025, with strong sales at existing locations.
• Nearly 80% of its customers overlapped with customers of five global luxury brands, according to Citigroup analysts.
• Its first overseas boutique opened in Singapore in June 2025. Japan was confirmed as the next international market.
• Competition, resale values, rising gold prices, profitability and perceptions of prestige remain challenges as Laopu expands.