Breaking new ground: LaoPu Gold revolutionizes luxury

As global economic volatility reshapes consumer behavior, the luxury industry faces a fundamental value reassessment. Brand equity once built on logo recognition, celebrity endorsements, and manufactured scarcity now confronts challenges from increasingly rational, value-conscious consumers. Against this backdrop, LaoPu Gold has emerged as a disruptive force. Rather than adopting Western luxury conventions, the Beijing-based jeweler has constructed a value proposition anchored in Chinese cultural heritage, traditional craftsmanship, and products designed to retain worth beyond market cycles. This approach has transformed LaoPu Gold from a domestic success story into a case study drawing global luxury leaders’ attention. NBA star Victor Wembanyama wore LaoPu’s signature gourd pendant at public appearances in the U.S. earlier this year. In September, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault visited LaoPu Gold's Shanghai flagship. At November’s China International Import Expo, Bvlgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin acknowledged that both brands share roots in millennia-old traditions. Rothschild has called LaoPu Gold’s success “a highly unreplicable exception” while projecting the brand will surpass Richemont’s jewelry revenue in China for 2025 — a milestone underscoring its disruptive impact on a market long dominated by European heritage houses. The new Chinese variable in luxury LaoPu Gold has emerged as a formidable competitive force in the global luxury market. The brand’s ascent is driven not simply by cultural appeal but by financial performance that challenges the established order of Western-dominated luxury. Even as global luxury growth decelerates, LaoPu Gold’s financial performance defies the trend. In the first half of 2025, revenue surged 251% year-over-year to 12.35 billion RMB ($1.72 billion), while net profit jumped 286% to 2.27 billion RMB ($63.9 million). Average store revenue reached 459 million RMB ($63.9 million) during the six-month period — outpacing both domestic and international competitors on a per-store basis. HSBC research estimates that LaoPu Gold’s per-store performance is roughly twice that of Cartier and three times that of Van Cleef & Arpels. Today, LaoPu Gold operates over 40 self-owned stores across 16 Chinese cities, the only local brand fully present in the country’s top-10 prime retail destinations. Stores are situated alongside Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Cartier in premium malls. The brand’s flagship locations demonstrate its market power. HSBC data shows LaoPu Gold’s Beijing SKP store generates approximately 3 billion RMB ($418 million) in annual revenue, accounting for roughly one-seventh of the mall’s total sales despite competing with over 100 international luxury brands. Crucially, this growth is not driven solely by new markets, but by capturing existing luxury consumers. Frost & Sullivan research shows that LaoPu Gold’s clientele overlaps with top-tier brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Cartier by an average of 77.3%. Morgan Stanley reports that in malls where both coexist, 30% to 60% of Cartier customers also shop at LaoPu Gold. Over the past three decades, consumers long chasing international luxury are increasingly turning to this Chinese brand — evidence of its ability to convert consumers historically loyal to Western luxury houses. Rothschild’s projection that LaoPu Gold will surpass Richemont’s China jewelry revenue in 2025 marks a symbolic shift. Richemont’s portfolio includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Buccellati. The forecast signals intensifying competitive pressure on Western luxury houses that have historically dominated China’s high-jewelry segment. Renowned business observer Qin Shuo dubbed 2025 “The Year of LaoPu,” noting that Western giants are feeling market pressure like never before. Interestingly, LaoPu Gold’s path to success has inspired a wave of followers. Numerous Chinese gold brands are now drawing from its approach to product design, craft storytelling, and store experiences. Even global giants are taking notice. In December, Kering invested in a Chinese gold brand, clearly aiming to enter the “Chinese luxury” space validated by LaoPu Gold. From reviving craft to shaping the market Yet, not everyone can become the “next LaoPu Gold.” Its uniqueness lies in its role as a definer rather than a follower. The brand was the first to transform palace-derived intangible cultural heritage into a contemporary, highly premium product system. It does not cater to an existing market; it creates entirely new demand. As the first brand to bring “traditional gold” to the market, LaoPu Gold has crossed the threshold from craft revivalist to market leader. In 2019, its pioneering pure gold diamond inlay technique broke the industry rule that only K gold could hold diamonds, achieving a flawless blend of texture and brilliance. In 2021, its pure gold enamel craft overcame the limitations of a single gold color, marking a key aesthetic leap, with the resulting work gaining international and contemporary attention. LaoPu Gold is not just a preserver of craft — it translates intangible heritage into a modern fashion language through disruptive innovation. Notably, as the lead drafter of China’s first standard for “Traditional Gold Jewelry,” LaoPu Gold has long embedded its deep understanding of craft, aesthetics, and quality into industry standards. By institutionalizing its market foresight into a system, the brand built an unassailable foundation, completing a strategic loop from defining products, to defining the industry, to ultimately defining value. Within LaoPu Gold’s product system, core pieces such as the “Cross Vajra” (十字金刚杵), symbolizing strength and wisdom, or the gourd (葫芦), a homophone for “prosperity and fortune,” hold value far beyond form. They respond to and deepen the rising trend of emotional consumption — where in times of uncertainty, buying behavior shifts from functional satisfaction to a quest for psychological assurance and spiritual certainty. LaoPu Gold does not merely cater to this sentiment; it turns products into vessels of hope and belief. This constitutes the brand’s most penetrating and hardest-to-replicate emotional premium, the most enduring and valuable currency in the luxury universe. The brand’s use of 24-karat gold also differentiates its value proposition from Western luxury jewelry. While European houses often employ lower-karat gold alloys, semi-precious stones, and non-precious materials, LaoPu Gold’s pure gold offerings provide greater intrinsic value and price stability — attributes that resonate with consumers seeking both aesthetic appeal and wealth preservation. Crafting luxury spaces with cultural belonging LaoPu Gold’s retail strategy centers on experiential differentiation. Store interiors reference traditional Chinese aesthetics, with design elements evoking Ming and Song dynasty studies. Staff function as cultural interpreters rather than conventional salespeople, guiding customers through the historical significance and craftsmanship techniques behind each piece. This approach positions purchasing as cultural engagement rather than a transactional exchange — a departure from the more formal service model prevalent at European luxury boutiques. Product presentation emphasizes curatorial display over commercial merchandising — they are arranged like refined scholarly objects within a space shaped by Eastern aesthetics, each piece carrying a cultural life beyond its material form. Staff guide visitors through craftsmanship, patterns, and historical context with calm expertise rather than urgency. This knowledge-based interaction contrasts sharply with the aloofness of conventional luxury, evoking the understated yet profound hospitality of a traditional Chinese household. The experiential retail model supports a tiered customer structure. Some 87.5% of customers spend under 50,000 RMB ($7,135) annually, forming a stable foundation, while 12.5% spend from 50,000 RMB ($7,135) up to over 300,000 RMB ($42,810), securing the brand’s top-tier revenue and luxury positioning. This dual-tier strategy enables mass-market visibility without diluting premium perception. LaoPu Gold’s trajectory represents more than financial performance. The brand has demonstrated that luxury goods rooted in Chinese cultural heritage can compete directly with established Western houses on both commercial and prestige metrics. By combining traditional craftsmanship with contemporary retail strategy, LaoPu Gold has established a business model that other Chinese luxury aspirants are now studying — and that international conglomerates are beginning to acknowledge as a legitimate competitive force in Asia’s largest luxury market.

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Breaking new ground: LaoPu Gold revolutionizes luxury