Dubai gold price closes in on Dh400 - for shoppers, now is time to 'upgrade'

Dubai: The UAE’s gold trade is responding to the highest prices in history by asking shoppers to ‘upgrade’ – in other words, bring any of their old jewellery to upgrade to new collections. And such exchanges will benefit both shoppers and gold retailers alike.

Shoppers should check whether they have any piece of jewellery of 10 grams and over bought before August 31, 2017.

If they do, that would have been bought for less than Dh150 a gram for 22K. Because it was on August 31, 2017 that the Dubai gold rate first hit Dh150. Now, if they exchange that jewellery today, they would get a minimum Dh243 gain per gram on the gold.

Because today’s Dubai gold price is an eye-watering Dh393 – and looking good to go higher. And no one will be surprised if a 22K gram reaches Dh400 in the coming days. (The 24K version already costs Dh424.25.)

"The way gold prices are moving, it will be no surprise if it clears $3,700 an ounce by December itself," said Shamlal Ahmed, Managing Director - International at Malabar Gold & Diamonds.

In the global market, gold is at $3,531 an ounce, and has been testing near $3,550 levels in the morning. These are all prices never seen before.

Until now, gold's highest was $3,500, which was touched in April last after the US President announced the tariff hit.

“It will be difficult for most UAE resident shoppers to spend on new jewellery at current prices,” said a gold retailer. “But there’s nothing that will stop them if they want to upgrade to newer jewellery with what they already own. Especially jewellery that was bought prior to 2017 or even before May 18, 2020, when 22K gold crossed Dh200, again for the first time.

“If they spent around Dh2,000 then, they will easily get more than their money’s worth if they exchange now.”

Old-for-new jewellery has always been popular with UAE residents and even tourists. Since mid-2024, there have been at least two notable occasions when shoppers rushed to do such exchanges – first when Dubai gold price hit Dh300 for the first time in November 2024 and then when the price crossed Dh350 in early April this year.