Interesting Perspective On Thai Gold Jewellery!

[Naam]

We only keep .9999 bars at homes and in our safety deposit boxes. Sorry but Thai necklaces are just not pure enough for us.

please elaborate why you are sorry

[Naam]

it is pretty standard that when you are buying something with diamonds in it that it will be white gold and likely 18k.

there is no such thing like a "pretty standard". taste for jewelry and its kind changes like fashion but not that fast. white gold jewelry was fashionable end of the 1970s then mid/end of the 1980s platinum and diamonds were en vogue for several years (especially in Japan). since more than a decade Europeans prefer the yellow metals and "americans' from Canada all the way down south to Argentina never had a faible for white gold. and guess what... well off Asians in Bangkok, Hong Kong or Mumbai detest any white gold.

[rockyysdt]

we keep our gold in the terrarium with a king cobra, and two black mambas

Not the safest pets to have around, should the missus go through one of her "Thai Female Moods".

[Jayman]

The reason why Hua Seng Heng has been recommended is because their gold content is never in question. Many of the gold shops around Thailand don't even realize that they aren't selling 96.5 gold. They also have the most fair pricing on sell and buy. As well as a huge selection of some of the nicest designs I have seen in Thailand. Would I make a special trip several hours just to go there and buy gold, probably not. But if you're in BKK than they are the place to go.

http://www.huasengheng.com/www/contactus.html

As for gold purity, as stated it's measured in Karats. 24 being the maximum. 18K is 18/24= .75 or 75% pure... Thai gold is 96.5% which is 23.16 K (more commonly called 23K)

http://www.goldtraders.or.th/

The Gold Traders Association of Thailand are the ones to set the price of Thai gold. All the gold shops set their priced based off that price.

[rockyysdt]

The reason why Hua Seng Heng has been recommended is because their gold content is never in question. Many of the gold shops around Thailand don't even realize that they aren't selling 96.5 gold. They also have the most fair pricing on sell and buy. As well as a huge selection of some of the nicest designs I have seen in Thailand. Would I make a special trip several hours just to go there and buy gold, probably not. But if you're in BKK than they are the place to go.

http://www.huasenghe.../contactus.html

As for gold purity, as stated it's measured in Karats. 24 being the maximum. 18K is 18/24= .75 or 75% pure... Thai gold is 96.5% which is 23.16 K (more commonly called 23K)

http://www.goldtraders.or.th/

The Gold Traders Association of Thailand are the ones to set the price of Thai gold. All the gold shops set their priced based off that price.

Is that traders link also available in English?

[Jayman]

The reason why Hua Seng Heng has been recommended is because their gold content is never in question. Many of the gold shops around Thailand don't even realize that they aren't selling 96.5 gold. They also have the most fair pricing on sell and buy. As well as a huge selection of some of the nicest designs I have seen in Thailand. Would I make a special trip several hours just to go there and buy gold, probably not. But if you're in BKK than they are the place to go.

http://www.huasenghe.../contactus.html

As for gold purity, as stated it's measured in Karats. 24 being the maximum. 18K is 18/24= .75 or 75% pure... Thai gold is 96.5% which is 23.16 K (more commonly called 23K)

http://www.goldtraders.or.th/

The Gold Traders Association of Thailand are the ones to set the price of Thai gold. All the gold shops set their priced based off that price.

Is that traders link also available in English?

It is not but you can use chrome to translate it for you. Or google translate will do it.

Here is a thai site that is in english but the rate is coming from the GTA.

http://www.goldpricethai.com/price

Edited June 16, 2012 by Jayman

[how241]

Thais seem to be limitied to the higher carat rating but impracticality in terms of strength?

Thais and most other Asians don't believe in the same rubbish 18 carat fairy tales in which you believe

Hi N.

Not sure what you you mean about the tales?

It could be the way I worded my comment!

My purpose for the chain was to hang a beautiful pendant given to the GF.

The gold paint faded from the nasty fake chain she was using and she started to develop a skin rash.

I'm mindful of metal fatigue and breakage over time if 23 carat is used.

Hence the 18 carat solution which is not only stronger but cheaper as jewelry was the sole intention, not investment.

Naturally knowing what I've learned about the Thai market is excellent if my funds can extend to investment opportunities.

I think you will find the GF will be a lot happier with Thai gold, rather than 18 carat. Don't get me wrong but 18 carat has a lot less resale value in Thailand.

96.5% is the Thai standard.

[how241]

unforchantely for myself, i have had the displeasure of purchasing jewelry for my wife all over the city of bangkok. it is pretty standard that when you are buying something with diamonds in it that it will be white gold and likely 18k. i cannot recall any shops selling diamonds set in stainless steel. anyways this conversation is getting pointless. i have been a strong advocate of buying and owning gold these last six years and my recommendations for buying gold would be .9999 bars, Thai gold and i would not buy 18k gold. i think gold is a much better investment than diamonds but i would advise other farang to leave their gold at home or in the safety deposit box it does not look very good around your neck. my 2 satang.

I was looking at a shop last week. I think it is a chain named Aurora. They sold small bars one baht and a half baht. They wanted 250 baht commission to buy them back. Which I didn't understand. Is this normal?

the smaller the bar, the higher the spread sell/buy.

Really ?

[Jayman]

unforchantely for myself, i have had the displeasure of purchasing jewelry for my wife all over the city of bangkok. it is pretty standard that when you are buying something with diamonds in it that it will be white gold and likely 18k. i cannot recall any shops selling diamonds set in stainless steel. anyways this conversation is getting pointless. i have been a strong advocate of buying and owning gold these last six years and my recommendations for buying gold would be .9999 bars, Thai gold and i would not buy 18k gold. i think gold is a much better investment than diamonds but i would advise other farang to leave their gold at home or in the safety deposit box it does not look very good around your neck. my 2 satang.

I was looking at a shop last week. I think it is a chain named Aurora. They sold small bars one baht and a half baht. They wanted 250 baht commission to buy them back. Which I didn't understand. Is this normal?

the smaller the bar, the higher the spread sell/buy.

Really ?

Not at Hua Seng Heng

[Naam]

Not at Hua Seng Heng

i can't judge that. what i know is that the bid/ask spread of some big goldshops in Pattaya is

-100 Baht for bars of 5 Baht weight or more

-150 Baht for bars of 2 Baht weight

-200 Baht for bars of 1 and ½ Baht weight

which i consider reasonable because not only production but also handling of small units is much more expensive.

small unit buyers in Thailand should count their blessings. in continental Europe the difference between "small" and "big" is a multiple of that in Thailand. at a prevailing price of $ 1,700/ounce the price of 31 bars each weighing one gram amounts to an equivalent of more than $ 2,000/ounce (~+20%) and is price related whereas the difference in Thailand is static and in the case of a ½ Baht weight less than 2%.

also to consider is that not everybody lives in BKK around the corner of Messrs. Hua Seng Heng to benefit from their small fees.

[Jayman]

To be honest, my statement is based off of buying 1baht or higher bars. I have no experience buying gold by the gram anywhere in the world. It does make sense that buying 31 1gram bars will cost you more than a 1oz bar due to production costs.

However, in Thailand the bid/ask (hence the spread) at any given time is posted. Whether you buy 1 baht or 5 baht you will pay the same price per baht. The labor charges are added onto your purchase depending on what you are buying and as noted is nearly insignificant when compared to western standards.

on another note, Aurora gold shops are very reputable and fair in pricing as well and are located throughout the country in many of the larger shopping centers like Big C. They post 3 prices. The buy/sell for their gold and then a lower buy rate for non Aurora gold. They give a better rate when buying back their gold since they are more confident in the purity. Most shops have a policy like this as well but it's less transparent to the customer.

Edited June 16, 2012 by Jayman

[cheeryble]

Please...

How much would a non-ostentatious wedding band weigh, I have to buy one?

(must agree gold shop gold looks, well, vulgar, i think part of it's the cheap looking glitter-cuts they put on it. I used to have a gf who had a driver and two nannies. She would always ask me to expensive restaurants and while I was in the can whip up and pay the bill....extraordinary....and had to tell her off about it. Even a heathen like me immediately picked out the difference in quality of the bracelt she was wearing it was refined and very stylish. It had come from some designer in BKK and cost about double the weight price....a lot....and it showed.

Anyway, yes, in case I just have to go to a gold shop, how much weight in a non-showy wedding band......but is there anywhere I could find something nicer, non-gold-shop, a simple smooth band, perhaps 18-22 carat, in CM?

Edited June 16, 2012 by cheeryble

[pipo1000]

it is pretty standard that when you are buying something with diamonds in it that it will be white gold and likely 18k. i cannot recall any shops selling diamonds set in stainless steel.

But I have seen loads of Zircons set in silver or even some other cheaper white metal,and without a loupe I'm not able to see the difference between a diamond and a Zircon.

[farang000999]

Yeah it is funny though in the West some gold bugs will tell you that the price of gold is sooo expensive because there is a divergence between paper and physical price because the market is artificially manipulated by a fake paper supply... little do they know that in Asia the spread is very small, thus this notion of paper/physical seperation is utterly false.

[Jayman]

Yeah it is funny though in the West some gold bugs will tell you that the price of gold is sooo expensive because there is a divergence between paper and physical price because the market is artificially manipulated by a fake paper supply... little do they know that in Asia the spread is very small, thus this notion of paper/physical seperation is utterly false.

That has nothing to do with the spread. And the claim is that gold/silver is kept artificially low.. not high.

In fact, I posted a very good interview on this very subject just today here

Edited June 16, 2012 by Jayman

[farang000999]

no, i have read tons of comments and articles on various blogs that say that the reason why you have to pay Spot+a big fee in the West is because there is not enough physical supply and that the spot "paper" price of gold is artificially low. I think anyone who has been to a gold shop in Thailand realizes this is false.

http://www.apmex.com/Category/1158/1_oz_Gold_Bars_Only.aspx

look how high the vig is at the largest online seller. i have seen quite a few articles and bloggers use this as an excuse to justify that gold is being manipulated down by the paper market. if this were true, you would not have Thai gold sellers selling for as low above spot as they are doing.

There is no seperation between physical and paper gold.

Edited June 16, 2012 by farang000999

[BigJohnnyBKK]

you would not have Thai gold sellers selling for as low above spot as they are doing.

I have not a clue about the financial market aspects of your post, but would like to point out that Thai shops generally are happy to operate on margins not even worth considering from a western POV, retail is just too competitive here the market is 99.99% based on price.

They make enough to just get by, or they make tons and tons on high volume.

[samjaidee]

Thais seem to be limitied to the higher carat rating but impracticality in terms of strength?

Thais and most other Asians don't believe in the same rubbish 18 carat fairy tales in which you believe

Hi N.

Not sure what you you mean about the tales?

It could be the way I worded my comment!

My purpose for the chain was to hang a beautiful pendant given to the GF.

The gold paint faded from the nasty fake chain she was using and she started to develop a skin rash.

I'm mindful of metal fatigue and breakage over time if 23 carat is used.

Hence the 18 carat solution which is not only stronger but cheaper as jewelry was the sole intention, not investment.

Naturally knowing what I've learned about the Thai market is excellent if my funds can extend to investment opportunities.

As I'm writing this I'm wearing a 23 carat Thai gold chain that weighs 14 grams. It' s been around my neck for 10 years and has never broken in all that time. It's value has increased nearly four fold since I bought it. Money well spent, I'd say.

[rockyysdt]

As I'm writing this I'm wearing a 23 carat Thai gold chain that weighs 14 grams. It' s been around my neck for 10 years and has never broken in all that time. It's value has increased nearly four fold since I bought it. Money well spent, I'd say.

Have you had it tested for authenticity?

[kiniyow]

When it comes to spending 25,000 THB on One Baht of Thai Gold or the same Money on an I Phone I will take my chances on the Thai Gold....

[Jayman]

As I'm writing this I'm wearing a 23 carat Thai gold chain that weighs 14 grams. It' s been around my neck for 10 years and has never broken in all that time. It's value has increased nearly four fold since I bought it. Money well spent, I'd say.

Have you had it tested for authenticity?

The important thing is that the Thai gold shops won't test it for authenticity either. As long as you can take it back to a Thai gold shop and sell it for fair market value then have it tested is moot.

This is also why I recommend buying from a reputable shop like Hua Seng Heng or even Aurora.

[samjaidee]

As I'm writing this I'm wearing a 23 carat Thai gold chain that weighs 14 grams. It' s been around my neck for 10 years and has never broken in all that time. It's value has increased nearly four fold since I bought it. Money well spent, I'd say.

Have you had it tested for authenticity?

As a matter of fact, yes I have had it tested. Not in Thailand but in Vietnam. It was a few years ago now but if I remember rightly it was 95.8% which was exactly what I was told when I bought it. Now I only buy fine gold which is 99.99% pure.

[rockyysdt]

Hmm, things will not get better in my opinion.

We have reached the end of the Paper-Money-Cycle; that happens every 60 to 70 years and always ends in deleveraging the debt back to zero. See, your plus is another ones minus. When this stands corrected we can restart the next cycle.

Unfortunately people dont know what money is, and the cycle takes so long (up to 70 years) there is no grandma to tell you, we always have to learn new again.

And this mechanism is usually accompagnied by civil war. Thats why i am here, where i can spot the Pinnaple trees .

Just guessing: Gold at 5000 U$ might be a moment to sell it. Switch to land or stocks and survive the next cycle.

Just thinking...

Excellent thing, first hand experience.

Those who went through a real depression (30's) know what it's about.

Only big danger is that the global 21st century is a very different world to anything that has come before.

Forecasting, therefore is no longer the same.

A very different world indeed.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

A very different world indeed.

Yes, not one country at a time, with the others in a position to step in and help, but all go down the tubes together at the same time.

Not a pretty thought.

Hope you can eat those pineapples 8-)

[how241]

unforchantely for myself, i have had the displeasure of purchasing jewelry for my wife all over the city of bangkok. it is pretty standard that when you are buying something with diamonds in it that it will be white gold and likely 18k. i cannot recall any shops selling diamonds set in stainless steel. anyways this conversation is getting pointless. i have been a strong advocate of buying and owning gold these last six years and my recommendations for buying gold would be .9999 bars, Thai gold and i would not buy 18k gold. i think gold is a much better investment than diamonds but i would advise other farang to leave their gold at home or in the safety deposit box it does not look very good around your neck. my 2 satang.

I was looking at a shop last week. I think it is a chain named Aurora. They sold small bars one baht and a half baht. They wanted 250 baht commission to buy them back. Which I didn't understand. Is this normal?

Yes, 250 commision for the 1 baht bars. Only 50 baht for the 5 baht or bigger bars.

[how241]

As I'm writing this I'm wearing a 23 carat Thai gold chain that weighs 14 grams. It' s been around my neck for 10 years and has never broken in all that time. It's value has increased nearly four fold since I bought it. Money well spent, I'd say.

Have you had it tested for authenticity?

Yes, good investment. If you have the receipt, the selling shop will always buy it back from you. No problem.

[Jayman]

unforchantely for myself, i have had the displeasure of purchasing jewelry for my wife all over the city of bangkok. it is pretty standard that when you are buying something with diamonds in it that it will be white gold and likely 18k. i cannot recall any shops selling diamonds set in stainless steel. anyways this conversation is getting pointless. i have been a strong advocate of buying and owning gold these last six years and my recommendations for buying gold would be .9999 bars, Thai gold and i would not buy 18k gold. i think gold is a much better investment than diamonds but i would advise other farang to leave their gold at home or in the safety deposit box it does not look very good around your neck. my 2 satang.

I was looking at a shop last week. I think it is a chain named Aurora. They sold small bars one baht and a half baht. They wanted 250 baht commission to buy them back. Which I didn't understand. Is this normal?

Yes, 250 commision for the 1 baht bars. Only 50 baht for the 5 baht or bigger bars.

Are you guys saying commission charged on top of the spread or are you considering the spread as the commission?

To be more clear with my question... are you guys saying that when you take gold bars that you purchased from Aurora back to Aurora to sell them that they give you less than the posted BUY rate on the wall? Mind you, the posted BUY rate is always less than the posted SELL rate. Also, they have a 3rd posted rate at Aurora that is a BUY rate for non Aurora gold and that is less than the previous 2 posted rates.

Edited June 17, 2012 by Jayman

[rockyysdt]

OK, I,m convinced.

Went into a shop.

Was presented with one beautifully proportioned 23 carat gold necklace, weighing 3.7 gms and engraved with Chinese lettering and the 96.5 marking for 6,900 baht.

Is this a good deal?

[MrRealDeal]

The best type of gold for jewlery is 18K but not like you are thinking ..... They have scratch proof 18K gold made with ceramic nowadays. In theory will look brand new in 100 years

I have a typical Thai gold chain , I have worn it every day 24 hours a day for 10 years and never needed to repair it.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

OK, I,m convinced.

Went into a shop.

Was presented with one beautifully proportioned 23 carat gold necklace, weighing 3.7 gms and engraved with Chinese lettering and the 96.5 marking for 6,900 baht.

Is this a good deal?

Really, it's more like buying rice than a work of art, I'm not going to bother getting out the calculator and looking up the conversion for you.

Get the weight in baht and post how much over the official weight price you're paying for workmanship.

Or don't even bother, if it's more than a few hundred baht, then I'd say no unless you're willing to pay a premium for a design that strikes your fancy more than what's available for a normal price.