Jewelry Faces Its Biggest Crisis Yet: Soaring Prices, Counterfeits, and a New King on the Rise

A few months ago, we were talking about platinum. In the world of jewelry, gold and silver are the quintessential metals. Gold has always been synonymous with luxury, while in a country like Mexico—a global leader in silver extraction—this mineral becomes the dominant choice, both due to tradition and availability.

However, recent geopolitical conflicts have severely impacted gold prices around the world. The value of the dollar and the euro has been shaken by erratic decisions, especially during the Trump administration. The dollar has weakened, the euro is wobbling, and in the midst of this storm, investors seek shelter in what they consider safe even beyond real estate and stock markets: gold. In the event of a catastrophic-scale conflict, paper money could lose its value if the government backing it collapses. Gold, on the other hand, is tangible, portable, and accepted as a medium of exchange almost anywhere on the planet. As conflicts in Ukraine, Pakistan, and Iran intensify, gold fever is resurging, sending its price soaring to historic highs.

For jewelers, this poses a tremendous challenge. They need gold either as raw material or purchase finished pieces for resale, but as prices skyrocket, it becomes increasingly difficult to pass those costs on to the end customer. This creates financial tension that threatens their profitability. In Mexico, the pattern is easy to spot: when beef prices rise, people switch to pork; when pork gets expensive, they go for chicken. The same happens in jewelry: as gold becomes more expensive, consumers shift to silver. Curiously, platinum—a metal that sometimes surpasses gold in value—continues to be overlooked by most Mexican jewelers.

Today, the gold jewelry market is going through a perfect storm. Global demand has surged, prices have hit record highs, and all signs point to further increases. As if that weren’t enough, the ongoing tension between China and the United States has prompted the Asian giant to begin revealing original product prices—including jewelry. This has exposed the hefty markups many brands apply, inflating the real cost by up to four times. Naturally, consumers have begun to reject these practices, further weakening luxury sales. Add to that the growing presence of illegal counterfeits—especially from China and Turkey—that replicate high-end Italian or Spanish designs, and consumer trust in the real value of what they’re buying continues to erode. Little by little, customers are waking up to the abuse.

In China, platinum is beginning to replace gold in consumer preferences. The perception that gold has become unreachable is pushing buyers toward more viable alternatives. In Mexico, silver jewelry is booming for similar reasons. But perhaps it’s time to widen our perspective: platinum—a metal underestimated in our country—may have everything it takes to become the new face of modern jewelry.

Platinum is actually rarer in nature than gold, yet global gold production is nearly 20 times higher. For this reason, platinum is often referred to as “the rich man’s gold.” Because of its composition, platinum jewelry is purer than gold jewelry, which requires the addition of other metals for manufacturing. Gold jewelry is not “pure gold”—it is a mixture. Platinum jewelry, on the other hand, doesn't need those additives.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s finally time to take platinum seriously.