2,000 yuan per gram, one-year waiting for delivery: Capital is betting on the next Laopu Gold
As capital intensively bets on the ancient - style gold track, the battle to invest in the next Laopu Gold is in full swing.
Within a month, Baolan and Linchao Jewelry respectively completed hundreds of millions of yuan in financing. Behind the former stand a group of well - known investment institutions such as Challenger Venture Capital, Shunwei Capital, and the global luxury giant Kering Group. The investor of the latter, Richone Capital, has assembled a post - investment empowerment team of nearly 10 people to provide all - round support.
Previously, these two high - end gold jewelry brands were not well - known to the public and were typical regional brands. Baolan only had 3 offline stores, and Linchao Jewelry only had 1 offline store in Lanzhou, Gansu.
Whether it is the "fixed - price" model to avoid gold price fluctuations or the single - gram selling price approaching 2,000 yuan, far exceeding brands like Chow Tai Fook, Baolan and Linchao Jewelry are grouped in the same camp as Laopu Gold. Together with Junpei, they are now known as the "Four Sisters of Ancient - Style Gold" by the outside world.
In terms of large - scale expansion, Junpei, the only one without public financing news, is currently expanding the fastest. With 2 new stores opening next month, its store scale will soon reach 10.
Laopu Gold's performance is still soaring, and the ancient - style gold track remains hot. In the first half of 2025, Laopu Gold's revenue reached 12.354 billion yuan, a year - on - year surge of 251%. The adjusted net profit was 2.35 billion yuan, with a year - on - year increase of up to 290.6%. Under the new round of industry changes, who will be the first to grab the market share?
"Three Sisters of Ancient - Style Gold" Challenge Laopu Gold
Like Laopu Gold, the craftsmanship narrative of ancient - style gold endows it with a high - premium attribute.
From the official stores of the three brands, we can see different words such as "ancient - style gold casting", "hand - carved", and "imperial court craftsmanship" are marked. The product styles all draw on elements such as traditional patterns and cultural relics. A "Zodiac Gold Buddha Pendant Necklace" weighing 8.6 grams from Junpei is priced at 19,305 yuan, with a single - gram price of up to 2,244 yuan. In contrast, the single - gram price of brands like Chow Tai Fook fluctuates around 1,300 yuan.
In addition, a quota system similar to that of luxury goods is adopted. For example, the Chan Juan Gui Rabbit ornaments in Linchao's Chinese zodiac series require a minimum order of 200 grams.
As of June 30, 2025, Laopu Gold had opened 41 self - operated stores in 16 cities. In terms of channel establishment, there is still a large gap between the three brands and Laopu Gold, and they are seizing the market through different paths.
The turning point for Linchao Jewelry, which only has 1 offline store, was in 2019 when the company began to focus on online operations on platforms such as short - video platforms. As of now, the number of fans of Linchao's official flagship stores on Douyin, Taobao, and Xiaohongshu platforms is 1.356 million, 507,000, and 169,000 respectively. In contrast, Laopu Gold has 130,000, 1.07 million, and 160,000 fans respectively.
Different from the online display logic of other brands, Linchao Jewelry records the production process of gold jewelry in the form of documentary videos, highlighting the craftsmanship attribute and leveraging traffic through low - cost online operations.
Correspondingly, product delivery is the biggest challenge. An employee at Linchao Jewelry's offline store told Tech Planet that the store adopts a limited - distribution system. The rule in December this year is that 6 spots for "booking on the official mini - program and arriving at the store with real - name registration" will be opened at noon every Friday, and 6 spots will be opened at the official flagship store every Friday afternoon. Users can grab the limited customized spots.
Consumers usually have to pay a deposit in advance when buying Linchao Jewelry, and the production period is as long as one year. A consumer told Tech Planet that she customized a Linchao gold jewelry based on her family's rabbit. Due to some manual details that need to be refined, the original one - year production period is still being extended.
In contrast, Junpei still adopts the traditional offline store - opening model. Like Laopu Gold, its stores are located in high - end shopping malls that require tens of millions of yuan in investment. Junpei's latest store is being renovated in Chengdu Taikoo Li, while across the road in the IFS (International Financial Center) shopping mall, there is a Laopu Gold store. According to a Junpei clerk, all stores are currently directly - operated, and franchising is not yet available.
Overall, different from traditional gold stores, ancient - style gold brands are artificially creating a sense of scarcity. Laopu Gold strictly limits its stores to top - tier shopping malls such as SKP and Mixc. The limited - quantity rush - buying of brands like Linchao takes scarcity to the extreme and also allows them to maintain a light - asset operation.
In terms of sales comparison, Citigroup released a research report stating that Laopu's sales in SKP will reach 5 billion yuan in 2025, and will increase by 8% to 11% in 2026. According to 36Kr, although Linchao only has one offline store, its annual revenue can achieve several - fold growth. As of November 2025, Linchao's annual sales have exceeded 500 million yuan.
In contrast, Baolan is not particularly prominent in both online and offline channels at present, and the number of fans on each platform is still less than 10,000. However, due to its luxurious investment lineup, it has begun to attract attention in the ancient - style gold industry.
The New Money - Burner for the Middle Class: Seizing the Chinese Luxury Goods Market
Just as young people buy gold beans, as the "golden blood" awakens, the middle class is shifting their consumption from luxury bags to gold jewelry that retains value.
Zhang Yue is one of them. She recently received an ancient - style pendant she ordered from Linchao in February this year, which cost 60,000 yuan. After calculation, the price per gram is 1,106 yuan, while the price of gold in the market at that time fluctuated between 660 yuan and 690 yuan per gram.
Now, the price per gram of this product has soared to 1,900 yuan. According to Zhang Yue, due to Linchao's long production period, many people who ordered products at the beginning of this year can cover the premium processing fees they paid according to the latest gold market price when they receive the goods.
However, in Zhang Yue's view, some of Linchao's popular products have large weights, high overall customer unit prices, and long production periods, so she has not bought them yet. The long production period not only affects the consumption frequency but also raises users' requirements and expectations. From the e - commerce platform, some users have reported problems such as "the connection is not straight" with Linchao's physical products, believing that every detail should not be ignored.
In addition, from the perspective of the value - preservation attribute of gold, ancient - style gold is not necessarily more valuable than ordinary gold.
Several second - hand recycling platforms consulted by Tech Planet all said that for products of brands like Laopu Gold, they will follow the traditional "pricing by gram" model, with the weight and purity of gold as the core calculation basis, and the brand premium of luxury goods is not reflected.
However, currently on platforms such as Xiaohongshu, there are some recycling stores that can recycle some styles of Laopu Gold jewelry at 70% or even more than 80% of the purchase price. According to their introduction, the price is mainly determined through on - site inspection of the style.
Behind the capital's bet on the next Laopu Gold, the more important thing is the blue - ocean market of "Chinese luxury goods".
Research data from Frost & Sullivan shows that the average overlap rate between Laopu Gold consumers and consumers of the top five international luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Cartier, and Bulgari is as high as 77.3%. If Laopu Gold has diverted domestic luxury consumers to ancient - style gold consumption, then among brands represented by Linchao, many audiences are also fans of Laopu Gold.
An enthusiast of ancient - style gold jewelry told Tech Planet that each brand usually achieves breakthrough through a representative product, such as Linchao's "Fire Scythe" series and Junpei's "Butterfly" series. Ancient - style gold products have similarities. Most of their styles are gorgeous, complex, and diverse, and are endowed with certain cultural connotations. When consumers get tired of buying Laopu Gold, they will try other new products.
A consumer who bought Linchao jewelry said that she was not familiar with brands other than Laopu Gold before. This year, she frequently saw comparison notes between Laopu Gold and Linchao on social media, and she bought it out of curiosity. According to her, Linchao will give a magnifying glass to users to see the product details, and its online marketing has also been significantly strengthened this year.
The boom in ancient - style gold is reshaping the gold consumption market, promoting the transformation of gold jewelry consumption from traditional wedding supplies and investment tools to fashion accessories. However, in Zhang Yue's view, today's ancient - style gold has more obvious collection and ornamental attributes. Like the Vajra pendant just launched by Laopu Gold, many product designs have a certain religious color and are difficult to match for daily commuting.
Ma Chaoxian, the founder of Linchao Jewelry, once told 36Kr that Linchao may currently have a relatively high proportion of male customers among similar brands. The portrait of male customers includes tourism, yachts, luxury watches, antique collection, finance, etc.
In the Thousand - Billion Market, Who Can Become the Next Gold "Queue King"?
According to Frost & Sullivan data, the market size of China's ancient - style gold market has grown from 13 billion yuan in 2018 to 157.3 billion yuan in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 64.6%. It is expected that the market size will reach 421.4 billion yuan by 2028.
In the past year, the industry has quietly launched a new round of market expansion. In the second - phase opening of Shenzhen Bay Mixc in the second half of this year, several high - end ancient - style gold brands that have emerged in the past one or two years, such as Junpei, Wenbo Gold, Yutai Gold, and Duobaoge Gold Shop, have been introduced. Junpei, whose expansion speed is second only to Laopu Gold, has entered 7 Mixc malls across the country in the past year and a half.
Ma Chaoxian, the founder of Linchao Jewelry, once told China Gold & Jewelry that he receives at least ten store - opening invitations every day. Linchao Jewelry will open its second national brand store in East China next year, and the planning for this store has been in the works for seven or eight years.
Channel and supply - chain capabilities are two important factors for ancient - style gold to achieve capital - scale expansion. Especially, the emphasis on handmade craftsmanship is naturally in conflict with scale. How capital investment will empower the industry will also become a new variable.
From the recruitment website, it can be seen that Richone Capital is currently recruiting for jewelry design positions, mainly to serve Linchao Jewelry. At the same time, the Chinese - market company of the American classic sports brand STARTER, which has received investment from Sequoia Capital, is also recruiting for positions such as supply - chain managers and jewelry designers related to Linchao Jewelry.
On the other hand, the homogenization problem faced by the entire industry is becoming increasingly prominent. In addition to the emergence of new high - end ancient - style gold brands, many merchants in Shenzhen Shuibei, as well as well - known brands like Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang, Luk Fook Jewelry, and Beijing Arts & Crafts, have all launched ancient - style gold products.
"Ancient - style gold" has not yet formed a sufficient core competitive barrier. Although ancient - style gold has shifted towards high - end craftsmanship and traditional cultural narratives, the product design and innovation are also very similar. Popular design elements such as gourds, pixiu, vajras, and butterflies are almost standard for each brand.
A consumer investor who focuses on ancient - style gold told Tech Planet that the factories behind these brands are the same group of people, which means they can be replicated. Although the complex craftsmanship may lead to relatively lower production capacity, it is not a big problem. In her view, Junpei is currently the brand most similar to Laopu Gold. However, because the business models are too similar, it is difficult to produce another Laopu Gold. A more differentiated niche positioning is the key to breaking through the market and achieving long - term development.
Laopu Gold, which was the first to define the concept of ancient - style gold and dominate the industry standards, although it has a strong leading effect, with the entry of capital and intensive store - opening, the new market pattern may also change.
(Note: Zhang Yue in the article is a pseudonym.)
This article is from the WeChat public account “Tech Planet” (ID: tech618), author: Lin Jing, published by 36Kr with authorization.