A new trend among well-to-do Vietnamese families is to gold plate favourite household items for luck or to show off their wealth.

Gold plated items

Tran Nguyen, the director of a gold plating company in Hanoi, said at first, people only wanted plating on their gates or doorknobs. Gradually, however, this turned into gold plating almost everything in the homes. Some households are ready to pay to tens of billions of VND to gold plate walls and staircases. The cost for a square metre is about VND25-30 million (USD1,190-1,428).

Nguyen said, "What determines the price is difficulty of the task and the quantity and quality of gold. There is a type of Chinese gold for which we charge only VND3 million per square metre, but of course it is not as good quality as pure (24k) gold."

Gold plating is not only a way to show off wealth, it may also be an element of fengshui. One person tried to plate his furniture, even down to the mirrors and ashtrays, with gold.

Nguyen Minh, director of an architecture firm said this person had to keep it secret and hire bodyguards to protect his home. 

Recently, hundreds of people descended on a garage in Long Bien District to see a Rolls-Royce Phantom with polished gold plated details. The process was done by 30 artisans over six months. The car's owner said he planned to have gold put onto his phone, watch and lighter.

Rolls-Royce Phantom with gold plated detailing

Gold teeth are no longer in fashion, but some people have thought of a new way to have gold put into their mouths. To replace a missing tooth, customers would ask a new one to be made of gold and covered with titanium. "Some people think that it's a symbol of power and royalty in fengshui and can bring them more luck in business," Nguyen said.

The cost for each tooth is only VND1-2 million. However, because not many customers have proper knowledge of gold, they can be tricked. Instead of using 24k gold, gold plating firms may use cheaper gold.