[Video] Chau Khe gold and silver craft village is busy preparing for Tet

The gold and silver production facility of Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyen's family, Chau Khe village (Thuc Khang) prepares Tet goods.

Bustling again

Coming to Chau Khe village these days, the sound of cutting machines, grinding machines, and welding machines fills the countryside. Chau Khe gold and silver making is done all year round, but the time near Tet and early January is the busiest time of the year.

Mr. Pham Duy Co, Party Cell Secretary and Head of Chau Khe Village, said that the village has about 250 households, of which over 90% of households are engaged in the gold and silver craft. The main source of income for Chau Khe people is also from this profession. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the production and business of the craft village has been greatly affected. There was a time when the whole village had to stop working. Many workers in the village had to switch to seasonal work at enterprises. In August and September, when the Covid-19 pandemic became complicated, the consumption of gold and silver products encountered difficulties; many gold and silver workshops in the village had to stop operating, some workshops still maintained production but operated at a low level. For more than a month now, when the epidemic control checkpoints were removed, traffic has been smooth and goods have sold better. Gold and silver production facilities in the village have been bustling again. Many workshops had to have workers work day and night to keep up with orders to deliver to customers.

Normally, 10 workers at the Ngoc Chau gold and silver workshop of Mr. Hoang Van Ngoc and Ms. Nguyen Thi Chau work 8 hours a day. In recent days, the workers in the workshop have had to work overtime from 3 to 3.5 hours in the evening to deliver goods to customers on time. Some days, workers have to work until almost midnight before they can rest. Ms. Chau said that compared to before, the production of silver jewelry has been supported by many modern machines and tools, helping to shorten the time it takes to make a product. However, to serve the increasing demand of customers, the workshop has to regularly change its designs. Depending on the time of year, jewelry trends also change. For example, on the occasion of International Women's Day March 8 and Vietnamese Women's Day October 20, pearl jewelry products are popular as gifts for mothers and grandmothers; on Valentine's Day, heart-shaped motifs are popular. Tet holiday is close to Christmas season, so Ms. Chau's workshop focuses on making jewelry products such as earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces with snowflakes, pine trees, reindeer and preparing jewelry with zodiac animal motifs, feng shui jewelry, money motifs that bring luck, fortune, etc. Ms. Chau also added that due to the increase in silver prices, customer consumption trends have also changed, people prefer silver jewelry products with thin, delicate designs instead of large necklaces, bracelets, and rings.

Still difficult

Mr. Mai Van Hoa in Vu Ban district (Nam Dinh) has been working for a gold and silver factory in Chau Khe village for 5 years with an income of about 10 million VND/month. At the end of the year, the workload is large and there is a lot of overtime, so the income is even higher. Mr. Hoa said that due to the Covid-19 epidemic, his work was interrupted at the beginning of the year and in August and September. Compared to this time every year, the workload this year is less, but being able to go to work stably again is a great joy for Mr. Hoa as well as many other goldsmiths. Mr. Hoa shared: "The epidemic is unpredictable, I just hope that the epidemic is well controlled, the consumption of goods is favorable, and everyone can have a peaceful and happy Tet."

For more than a month now, the gold and silver production facility of Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyen's family has been operating stably again after a period of suspension due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Currently, Ms. Tuyen's family's facility has 9 workers. Every year at this time, her family hires 4-5 more workers to make goods in time, but this year the factory did not hire more seasonal workers because there is still a lot of inventory due to Covid-19. Ms. Tuyen said: "My family's goods are mainly exported to Hanoi. When Hanoi implemented social distancing, production had to temporarily stop because of difficult output." Currently, the consumption of goods is more favorable than before, but the price of gold and silver has increased, so purchasing power has decreased compared to previous years.

According to Ms. Tuyen, her workshop normally spends about 1.2 billion VND to import raw materials to prepare for Tet, but this year, the price of silver has increased, so her family has to spend nearly 2 billion VND to import raw materials. "Raw material prices have increased, but product prices depend on market prices, so profit is like a "gamble", not knowing whether to win or lose," Ms. Tuyen said.

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