China News Service, Shaoxing, March 8 (Xiang Jing) "I carefully selected from more than ten shops and finally bought two pearl necklaces, one as a gift for my mother, and the other to add elegance to myself." March 8th is the International Women’s Day. Xiaotao, a post-00s girl from Hangzhou, and her four sisters made a special trip to Shanxiahu Town, Zhuji City, Shaoxing, Zhejiang to “hunt for pearls”. “Pearls are women’s soul mates.” ', I am very moved by the delicate and gentle millet beads. Each of us bought ourselves a pearl gift."
Pearls are bred from natural clams, and their “round and jade-like” characteristics make many women fall in love with them.
In recent years, with the rapid rise of the "her economy" online and offline, pearl jewelry has gradually become popular in the female market and has become a must-have in the jewelry box of "post-00s" girls.
On March 8, young consumers choose pearl necklaces.
Photo by Xiang Jing
On that day, Shanxiahu Town, known as "the world's largest freshwater pearl production and sales center", East China International Jewelry City, Xinchangle Village, the "No. 1 Pearl Village" and other places all staged a "crazy pearl" shopping craze, with a large number of women consuming Visitors come here to choose their own pearls, including many born in the 2000s.
Aerial photo of East China International Jewelry City on March 8.
Photo by Wang Gang
Selecting beads, trying them on, bargaining, placing orders... At noon, every grid shop in East China International Jewelry City was already crowded with people.
In the "Runhe Pearl" store, a young couple born after 2000 from Hubei were choosing pearl earrings. When interviewed, his wife Zhu Min said, "Pearl jewelry is very popular, and I also want to buy a whole set of pearls for myself." Accessories. I wanted to place an order online, but you can see and touch them in the physical store. I hope I can come back with a full load today."
"There are a lot of young female customers offline these days." At another pearl lattice shop, the 26-year-old proprietress, who has been in business for less than four years, also said, "Every year's March 8th Festival is the peak customer flow, and this year's purchase of pearls The number of people born after 1995 and 2000 who buy jewelry has increased significantly, and they have very high requirements for style."
It is no accident that pearls set off a "new trend" among Chinese women.
As early as the Song Dynasty, pearl makeup was widely popular for its function of modifying a woman's face.
Over the past thousands of years, the integration of traditional culture and modern fashion, as well as people's diverse understanding of "beauty", have accelerated the trend of younger pearl consumption.
On March 8, a female consumer displayed a pearl necklace.
Photo by Xiang Jing
"Post-2000" girl Li Kechu's family has been engaged in the pearl industry for three generations. She took a fancy to the young consumer market for pearls and tried e-commerce live streaming in 2023.
Li Kechu said in an interview, "Different from the traditional wholesale sales model, I try to conduct live broadcasts on Douyin, Xiaohongshu and other platforms where young people are active, and understand everyone's preferences through close interaction."
On the way to explore Internet sales, Li Kechu discovered that in addition to high requirements for pearl quality, young people are more inclined to choose pearl styles that are both traditional and fashionable. "For example, 'new Chinese-style' earrings that incorporate elements of Chinese culture are a hot trend." ’, small animal-shaped pearl jewelry are also very popular.”
A woman should look good to those who please her.
Looking at the new generation of pearl consumer groups, some people prefer "fancy" styles, while others prefer simple and elegant styles, which all reflect young consumers' pursuit of individuality.
On March 8, merchants processed pearl jewelry.
Photo by Xiang Jing
"I didn't expect that the best-selling items are plain chains, plain earrings, and plain rings." In order to seize the "pleasure economy", the 27-year-old anchor Kang Jinyu started stocking up a week in advance. "We have prepared various styles, but the best-selling ones are The best ones are the simpler 'all-match styles', and sales have increased by 30% in these days than usual."
Xinchangle Village, where Kang Jinyu is located, has a history of pearl development for more than 40 years, and now more than 80% of the villagers are engaged in pearl production and sales.
He Lixin, secretary of the Party branch of Xinchangle Village, said in an interview that since 2024, the village’s online and offline pearl jewelry sales have exceeded 1.5 billion yuan.
On March 8, in the Xinchangle Village e-commerce live broadcast base, the anchor sold pearl jewelry online.
Photo by Wang Gang
Because of his love for pearls, Kang Jinyu came here to be a pearl anchor as soon as he graduated from college.
After five years in the industry, what impressed her most was that more and more young people fell in love with pearls. “Pearl jewelry is very suitable for Oriental women to wear. It can not only be used as a wonderful holiday gift, but now many girls also use it as An 18-year-old adult ceremony, or the first piece of jewelry when entering the workplace.” (End)