More than a month after scores of diamond retailers in Ho Chi Minh City shut their doors amid a liquidity crisis, many remain closed. A handful have reopened, but customers are scarce and trading remains subdued.
Some reopen, others extend closures
A survey on August 19 found that numerous diamond stores along Nguyen Duy Duong and An Duong Vuong streets in An Dong Ward and Vo Van Tan Street in Ban Co Ward remained closed. They included Kim Ly, Kim Khiet An Dong, Bao Tran Jewelry Diamond, Kim Chau, Ngoc Tam and PJA Diamond & Jewelry.
Notices posted outside the stores said operations had been temporarily suspended for renovations or that the businesses were being dissolved.
At Ngoc Tam, Kim Ly and Ngoc Chau Au, whose business owners have been prosecuted in connection with a transnational diamond smuggling case, the announced reopening dates have passed, but the stores remain shut.
Inside An Dong Market, many stalls are still covered with tarpaulins, leaving once-busy trading areas unusually quiet. Shops that also sell gold and gemstones remain open, but customer traffic is thin.
Many diamond stores, including Kim Ly, Ngoc Tam and Kim Khiet, remain closed. Photo: Thu Ha
Some businesses have repeatedly pushed back their reopening dates. Chinh Tam, for example, moved its planned reopening from August 17 to September 8. Kim Chau had initially expected to resume business on July 30, but later changed course and suspended operations again from August 1 until further notice.
A small number of retailers have reopened after temporary closures, but purchasing activity has shown little sign of recovery.
Que Jewelry on Le Thanh Ton Street in Sai Gon Ward resumed operations according to schedule. At 11am on August 19, however, transactions at the store were sparse. The retailer is temporarily declining to buy products from other brands, preserving its reserve funds to repurchase items it originally sold.
Hoang Thu Jewelry has also reopened to customers.
Among gold, jewelry and gemstone businesses that remain in operation, VietNamNet found trading sentiment to be similarly cautious.
More than a month after Dang Ngoc Thao, former director of P-Lab, a company specializing in diamond certification in Vietnam, was prosecuted in connection with the transnational diamond smuggling ring, PNJ continues to use a five-stage payment schedule over 120 days for customers seeking cash from buyback transactions.
PNJ has also limited buyback transactions at designated stores to a two-hour window each day, from 3pm to 5pm.
Confidence yet to return as market faces long recovery
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Que Jewelry and Hoang Thu Jewelry are among the small number of stores that have reopened. Photo: Thu Ha
Tran Duy Phuong, director of precious metals company Golden Fund, said the state of Ho Chi Minh City’s diamond stores shows that the market remains sluggish and under considerable strain.
Unlike gold, diamonds are more difficult to convert quickly into cash, Phuong said. At present, customers are overwhelmingly looking to sell, while diamond retailers are reluctant to buy, particularly in large volumes, because doing so would put pressure on their cash flow.
As a result, many businesses have opted to remain closed, while some have shifted to online sales in an effort to move inventory.
This standoff between sellers and retailers has prevented the market from regaining momentum. Phuong nevertheless believes the current crisis is temporary.
“Like any market, after a crisis it takes time for things to settle down,” he said. “It may take until June 2027, roughly another year, before confidence gradually returns. I believe diamond prices are currently quite low and attractive. If the market picks up again, diamond stores and retail chains could gradually resume their operations.”
Phuong said tighter government oversight and recent efforts to restore order to the market could also create new opportunities for businesses looking to enter the sector or stores seeking to reopen. A more tightly regulated market, he said, would ultimately be safer.
Several diamond retailers have repeatedly postponed their reopening dates. Photo: Thu Ha
For consumers who are not under pressure to raise cash, Phuong said holding onto their diamonds could be an option. Those concerned about quality can take their stones to independent certification centers for verification.
He believes certification providers will now face greater pressure to improve transparency and standardize their procedures. If independent testing confirms that a diamond meets the stated specifications, consumers have little reason for concern. The greater risk is when the actual quality does not match the information provided at the time of sale.
Nguyen Tuan Anh, a finance lecturer at RMIT University Vietnam, similarly described the upheaval in Vietnam’s diamond market as a major shock, but also an inevitable process of market correction.
That does not mean consumers have completely lost faith in diamonds as a luxury product, he said. Rather, confidence has been shaken by the distribution system and concerns over transparency surrounding product origins, rather than by a rejection of the intrinsic value of diamonds themselves.
“This is major surgery for the market,” Anh said. “In the long run, as the law imposes greater discipline, the market will become more transparent, creating a level playing field for legitimate businesses. Confidence among affluent customers in natural diamonds will gradually recover, but it will come with far more stringent requirements regarding legal compliance.”
Vietnamnet.vn
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