Phototex

It’s a warm Saturday afternoon in The Village, one of Beijing’s newest shopping malls, and the young and aspiring are out in force. Famous brand stores are filled with potential customers, and, among them, the jewelers Chow Tai Fook, with its prime location, seems to be one of the most popular.

A steady stream of young women, usually accompanied by their boyfriends and husbands, enter to look at, try on, and occasionally even buy one of the diamond rings on offer. With prices starting at as little as RMB 2,500 for a 0.086 carat diamond ring, the Chinese have joined their W ......many of them will leave without feeling an increased desire to own a diamond or two of their own.

For the moment at least, China seems to be the diamond industry’s safe haven, with the Chinese consumer willing and able to pick up some of the slack from around the world – though it may be a while before most of the young women yearning for a diamond are able to walk around the corner to the more glamorous Chow Tai Fook store in Beijing with anything more than a glint in their eye.