{"id":6249,"date":"2026-04-24T09:36:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/gold-is-unaffordable-so-south-asian-brides-turn-to-one-gram-substitutes\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:36:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:36:03","slug":"gold-is-unaffordable-so-south-asian-brides-turn-to-one-gram-substitutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/gold-is-unaffordable-so-south-asian-brides-turn-to-one-gram-substitutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold is unaffordable so South Asian brides turn to one gram substitutes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir<\/strong> \u2013 Uzma Bashir sleeps most nights with her phone beside her pillow. She often wakes, not to check her messages, but she is getting married in the summer and is monitoring the price of gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn [Indian-administered] Kashmir, gold is not just an ornament, it is dignity. It determines how you will be treated in your in-laws\u2019 home,\u201d said the 29-year-old, an accountant\u00a0at a consultancy firm in the region\u2019s main city of Srinagar.<\/p>\n

Bashir makes less than $100 a month. She had hoped to buy her wedding jewellery with her own earnings to avoid burdening her parents.<\/p>\n

Across South Asia, where patriarchy often defines weddings, gold has long travelled with a bride into her new home, not just as an ornament, but also as protection from harassment \u2013 and even violence \u2013 as in-laws often demand a hefty dowry from the bride\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much gold a woman owns often becomes equal to how she will be valued,\u201d Bashir told Al Jazeera. \u201cMy parents have already done enough for me. But I can\u2019t afford even a single ring. It costs nearly three months of my salary\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Rising
A goldsmith in Srinagar displays 150 grams of pure gold costing around $27,500 as gold prices soar [Sadaf Shabir\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Dramatic shift\u2019<\/h2>\n

Record gold prices this year have hit jewellery purchases across South Asia, with the precious metal hitting a high of $5,595 per ounce on January 29 and currently trading at around $4,861.<\/p>\n

As India \u2013 the world\u2019s second-largest consumer of gold \u2013 last weekend celebrated the popular gold-buying Hindu festival of Akshaya Tritiya, gold futures closed at $1,670 per 10 grams \u2013 63 percent higher than last year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n

The World Gold Council says demand for gold jewellery in India fell by 24 percent in 2025 compared to the year before.<\/p>\n

The surge in prices has also affected the way people plan their weddings, as jewellers report more and more customers abandoning pure gold and turning instead to imitation jewellery, gold-plated ornaments or lower-carat alternatives.<\/p>\n

Customers such as Uzma Bashir, who discovered a concept called \u201cone-gram gold jewellery\u201d \u2013 ornaments made from base metals but coated with a thin layer of 24-carat gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it has emerged as a lifesaver,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I can wear it on my wedding day and no one would point a finger\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many families across South Asia are also making that choice.<\/p>\n

Fatima Begum, who lives in Laxmi Nagar, a dense working-class neighbourhood in New Delhi, is checking out stores at the bustling Karol Bagh market, where dozens of shops specialise in imitation jewellery.<\/p>\n

The mother of five children is looking for a shop selling one-gram gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much gold can a middle-class family living in New Delhi really afford?\u201d she asked. \u201cMy youngest daughter is getting married and I\u2019m trying to reduce the cost of the wedding by replacing real gold jewellery with one-gram gold. I did the same when my eldest daughter got married\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fatima said when she got married in 1996, her father gave her nearly 60 grams of gold, apart from other gifts as part of her dowry. \u201cToday, I cannot give even half of that to my daughters,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cI have given them some of my old jewellery along with a few one-gram pieces, so they won\u2019t feel embarrassed at their own weddings\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shiv Yadav, a goldsmith working in Mumbai\u2019s jewellery hub of Zaveri Bazaar for more than three decades, says the market today is increasingly dominated by artificial jewellery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 10 people walk into the shop, only one ends up buying gold; the rest turn to artificial jewellery,\u201d Yadav told Al Jazeera. \u201cI had never seen such a dramatic shift\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Rising
A 1 gram gold chain displayed in a jewellery shop. With rising gold prices, many customers are choosing lighter, affordable options [Fahim Mattoo\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Booming imitation market<\/h2>\n

In neighbouring Bangladesh, similar economic pressures are redefining marriages. Last month, the price of 22-carat gold in Dhaka climbed to a record $2,200 per 11.668 gram (\u201cbhori\u201d in the local Bangla language), according to the Bangladesh Jewellers Association.<\/p>\n

In a country with a per capita income of around $2,600, gold has simply become unaffordable for most people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we can casually wear gold anymore, the way our mothers used to. It has simply become too expensive,\u201d said Sadia Islam as she browsed shops in Dhaka\u2019s Chawkbazar. It is a busy wholesale hub, where the Hazi Selim Tower alone houses more than 100 jewellery outlets.<\/p>\n

Store owner Enayet Hossain said demand for imitation jewellery has grown sharply as gold becomes too expensive for most. Smaller imitation items such as earrings cost as little as 200 to 500 taka [$1.5-$4], while larger sets sell for a few thousand, depending on the design.<\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers want pieces that look like real gold but cost much less, and the designs are often more varied than traditional jewellery,\u201d he told Al Jazeera, adding that many of his products are imported from India, where imitation jewellery is a huge industry.<\/p>\n

For Sadia Islam, safety is another reason to avoid wearing real gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if I wear real gold to a wedding and it gets stolen?\u201d she asked. \u201cI can\u2019t take that risk\u201d.<\/p>\n

Instead, she buys imitation jewellery to match specific outfits for family events. \u201cSo before family functions, I come to these shops to buy imitation jewellery that matches my clothes,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel much safer wearing it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Pakistani
Pakistani bride Dua Khan and groom Asher Khan during their wedding ceremony in Karachi, January 27, 2024. Jewellery is a critical part of marriage in South Asia [Fareed Khan\/ AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Real gold for the elite<\/h2>\n

In Pakistan too, jewellers say pure gold jewellery is increasingly becoming a luxury reserved mainly for the wealthy.<\/p>\n

Traders say sales of gold jewellery have fallen by about 50 percent over the past year. As prices increase, many customers have turned to lower-carat options, such as 18 or 12-carat gold.<\/p>\n

Others are abandoning gold altogether in favour of gold-plated jewellery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that we don\u2019t want to wear real gold. Of course we do,\u201d said Ayesha Khan as she shopped for jewellery for a family wedding. \u201cBut the circumstances in Pakistan are very difficult right now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gold prices have reached around 540,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,938) per tola (11.668 grams). \u201cThat makes it impossible for ordinary families to buy jewellery the way people used to,\u201d Khan told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Imitation jewellery, she added, allows families to preserve the appearance of tradition without the financial burden. \u201cIt lets us still look elegant at weddings without spending a fortune\u201d.<\/p>\n

The price difference is stark. A gold-plated bridal set can cost between 40,000-60,000 Pakistani rupees ($143-215). The same design made from real gold can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of rupees.<\/p>\n

\"Rising
Shabana Khan wears a large 1-gram gold ring in Indian-administered Kashmir [Sadaf Shabir\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Changing attitudes<\/h2>\n

Back in Indian-administered Kashmir, Shabana Khan and her fianc\u00e9 Shahbaaz Khan confront the same reality. Their wedding is expected in two months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always dreamed of wedding jewellery,\u201d said Shabana from the remote Kupwara district. \u201cBut real gold is too expensive\u201d.<\/p>\n

Shahbaaz says Shabana had always imagined wearing a heavy necklace on her wedding day. \u201cBut I cannot spend $6,000 to $7,000 on gold jewellery,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

After the couple came across social media videos offering \u201cone-gram gold jewellery\u201d, they travelled to Srinagar, around 85km (53 miles) away, to visit a showroom there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jewellery looked just like real gold,\u201d Shahbaaz said. \u201cAt least with this concept, she can enjoy her dream\u201d.<\/p>\n

But one-gram gold jewellery doesn\u2019t work for everyone.<\/p>\n

Rihanna Ashraf, 40, grew up in a family of artisans that survived on traditional embroidery work. After her father died when she was still a child, she started supporting her widowed mother and four siblings.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, marriage proposals came but often ended in the same manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne family agreed,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cMy mother was so happy. But when we met them, they demanded gold worth more than everything we had. The proposal fell through\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rihanna says she has heard of one-gram gold. \u201cBut what is the benefit? It is not pure. It does not feel authentic\u201d.<\/p>\n

She remains unmarried, like nearly 50,000 women in Srinagar alone who are considered \u201cpast their marriage age\u201d, according to community leaders, as financial barriers, mainly gold, play a key role.<\/p>\n

Nisar Ahmad Bhat, who runs a jewellery store in Srinagar, said attitudes regarding jewellery are beginning to shift, with more and more families buying gold only for investment purposes, while interest in symbolic substitutes grows.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want the happiness of wearing gold, but within an affordable range,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cGold will always remain gold. But people may begin to see it more as an investment, not as something they can casually afford\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir \u2013 Uzma Bashir sleeps most nights with her phone beside her pillow. She often wakes, not to check her messages, but she is getting married in the summer and is monitoring the price of gold. \u201cIn [Indian-administered] Kashmir, gold is not just an ornament, it is dignity. It determines how you will … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}