New York
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was initially printed in July.
Every piece of gold that Farzana Ghani owns holds a reminiscence.
She has intricate jewellery units from her mother-in-law from her wedding ceremony in Pakistan; a gold chain gifted from her mom after she carried out the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage; and gold cash to rejoice her daughter’s start.
And she’s going to maintain investing in gold, as costs for the steel attain report highs.
“Compared to bonds and compared to holding cash, I would still prefer to buy gold coins,” Ghani, 56, of Miami, Florida, stated.
Brides in South Asia are famously decked out in the treasured steel – necklaces, earrings, nostril rings, hair items and amulets – that may be gifted or inherited. The assortment usually begins earlier than they’re even born, composed of inherited items and presents to commemorate their start, life milestones and spiritual holidays.
Gold has been often called the most dependable protected haven asset for millennia, however it’s greater than an funding for South Asian households. The custom of daughters inheriting their moms’ gold spans throughout city and rural India, regardless of socioeconomic class.
It is deeply sewn into the cloth of the area’s tradition, usually fairly actually, as many women inherit saris which might be intricately embroidered with gold thread. They revere gold items as treasured household heirlooms relatively than a fast money turnaround — and for women, it will probably be one of the few property that belong solely to them.
Gold costs hit a record $4,000 per troy ounce for the first time Tuesday after climbing 54% up to now this yr. The rise is spurred by US President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff agenda and his attacks on the Federal Reserve’s chief, in addition to expectations that the Fed will lower rates of interest. And the South Asian women who lengthy invested most of their property into gold are profitable on this rally.
“Whatever I have, it’s all gold,” one South Asian mom described to her viewers on TikTok, exhibiting off a 24-carat necklace she acquired 28 years in the past. “When I bought this (necklace) right, those days, golds were very cheap. One gram was $12. Now it’s $100.”
India was the second-largest marketplace for gold jewellery in the world in 2023, solely falling behind China, in accordance with main trade group World Gold Council. In 2021, India purchased a whopping 611 tonnes of gold jewelry; as compared, the next-biggest area, the Middle East, purchased 241 tonnes.
Demand in India is pushed by jewellery: The nation has an anticipated 11 million to 13 million weddings a yr, with bridal jewelry enjoying more than 50% of the gold market share, accordingly. South Asians make up roughly 10% of UK gold provider Solomon Global’s shopper base, and it had seen an uptick in the final yr in women of South Asian origin shopping for gold, in accordance with the firm.
“Jewelry is something that has an auspicious place in people’s lives, it can be very consumer oriented, but it is also a very good mechanism for saving and passing wealth from generation to generation,” Joseph Cavatoni, senior market strategist for the Americas at the World Gold Council, advised NCS.
People in India don’t view gold as a splurge in accordance with Sachin Jain, India CEO of the World Gold Council. Instead, gold items are considered as household property that may solely admire in worth.
Gold jewellery additionally serves as a bodily type of monetary safety in a area the place millions of people — notably women — could not have entry to financial institution accounts or different varieties of organized investing. In India, lower than 50% of women handle their funds independently, in accordance with a March survey from YouGov.
Ghani grew up with that mindset. In Pakistan, her mom advised her to put aside any pocket cash and, as soon as it’s amassed, purchase 24-karat gold cash.
“We Eastern women are always known for having money on rainy days. We don’t live for today and then forget about tomorrow,” Ghani stated.
But in 2025, it’s not simply South Asian brides who’re counting on gold investments. Trump’s commerce conflict has thrown the world commerce establishment into disarray, and buyers need to transfer their property from extra risky paper foreign money. Gold posted its strongest quarterly return since 1986 throughout the first quarter of 2025, with demand for protected havens spilling into different metals like silver and platinum.
“Gold is a bastion of safety and value,” Joshua Barone, a wealth supervisor at funding agency Savvy Advisors, advised NCS. Even with the occasional dip, the worth of gold per troy ounce has soared greater than 2,700% over the previous 50 years, in accordance with BullionByPost, the largest on-line gold supplier in the UK. Silver has risen greater than 1,000% over the identical time interval.
Central banks in India and China have been shopping for bullion to spice up their reserves. The Reserve Bank of India has elevated its gold holdings by 35% in the final 5 years, in accordance with Solomon Global.
South Asians have lengthy been storing gold in their very own properties. Conservative estimates say that 25,000 tons or extra of gold are sitting in properties in India, Jain stated.
But South Asians are usually not interested by promoting off their gold simply but. Indians are holding on to their gold even with excessive costs, Jain stated, regardless of the development of elevated gross sales when costs had been comparatively excessive traditionally.
“The Western markets tend to want to hold gold when things are really scary, market risk and uncertainty. But (South Asian) families, these generations, have held gold for a long time, because they see that gold grows with economic expansion and it links to the GDP,” Cavatoni stated.
Instead, Jain famous that in the previous yr, Indian customers are coming again into shops and changing their outdated jewellery into extra up to date designs. Young folks nonetheless see the worth in holding on to gold – however they need items they will put on daily relatively than gigantic bridal units which might be sitting in financial institution lockers.
“I think the younger consumer wants to own, fall in love and use those pieces, make them part of their life,” Jain stated.
When Ghani’s daughter was getting married final December in Miami, she transformed many of her gold cash and outdated jewellery units into a contemporary assortment for the bride, one which she will be able to maintain and go on to her personal youngsters in the future. Other gold cash had been put aside for Ghani’s son.
“She wanted to wear artificial (jewelry),” Ghani sighed. “But gold is the most decent, the most elegant. I told her, ‘Do not wear anything else.’”
NCS’s John Towfighi contributed to this report.