Gold demand is expected to surge on the God of Wealth Day on the 10th day of the Lunar New Year, which falls this year on February 21, as Vietnamese believe that would bring good luck and prosperity through the year.

In recent years people have been queuing up at 4am to buy “lucky” gold.

To meet the expected spike in demand, jewellery companies have stocked up on various kinds of gold products, including traditional figurines of the God of Wealth inscribed with the words Phuc (Happiness), Loc (Prosperity), Tai (Wealth), and Tho (Longevity), the 12 zodiac animals and lucky charm bracelets made of 24k and 18k gold.

Since this is the lunar Year of the Buffalo, the buffalo is also widely featured on gold products.

Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company (PNJ) has launched the Kim Nguu jewellery collection made of 18k gold and charm bracelets with a buffalo made of 24k gold and “Lucky” written on it.

PNJ has also launched a limited edition set of three gold pieces, Xuan Phu Quy. Only 2,500 have been made.

Le Tri Thong, CEO of PNJ, said the company has been preparing for this day since the middle of last year.

“This year, besides traditional products, we also have modern designs using our latest technologies to offer customers more choices.”

With gold prices much higher than in previous years, the company has products in a wider price range than last year for affordability, he said.

Other jewellery companies like DOJI, Sacombank Jewelry Company (Sacombank -SBJ), Phu Quy Gold, and Sai Gon Jewelry Company Limited (SJC) have also launched new products.

SJC has a lucky gold series with figurines of buffalos made of 24k gold and weighing one to 10 taels (a tael equals 37.5g) with sophisticated and vivid carvings, and a 0.1 tael 24k bar inscribed with images of the buffalo and the words Phuc, Loc and Tho.

DOJI has 24k buffalo figurines weighing nearly 0.3 taels and 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 tael gold bars inscribed with the image of the buffalo, the God of Wealth and others.

According to gold and jewellery shops, they will employ more staff and open earlier and close later than usual to meet demand on the God of Wealth Day.

Many have planned measures to safeguard the health of customers and staff amid the Covid-19 threat like checking customers temperature and providing them with hand sanitisers at the door.

Many are selling gold online with the price fixed at the time of order and delivery to be made on the Gold of Wealth Day.

A representative of Bao Tin Minh Chau said customers can place orders for ‘God of Wealth’ gold at ruoclocthantai.btmc.vn from February 17, and pick up the gold at its stores.

DOJI is also selling online. Customers with accounts at TPBank can buy gold on its website and have the products delivered at home or pick them up at the company’s stores in Hanoi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Can Tho.

PNJ is also enabling online shopping.