I BELIEVE that some, if not most, old Bahraini women were gold investors. Since the old days, gold in Bahrain has been an attraction for women.

Old Bahraini women, and there are still Bahrainis today who have the same interest, used to buy gold when the price went down and used to sell it when the price went up.

Their incentive was not investment or profit but was more of exchanging their old jewellery for new ones to meet their utility function. It is true that, nowadays among Bahraini women, diamonds have entered the market to become a competitor for gold; however, gold remains more valuable when it comes to investment. The US central bank has gold reserves besides cash as a store value. If you visit any gold shop in Bahrain, take with you a ring with VS2 diamonds and a 10gm 24k gold ring, I assure you that the gold ring will be sold at a much higher price though the diamond ring was bought for a higher price.

Since last month the price of gold has been dropping. Gold per gramme for 21k (which is the most used in the market) was BD16.740 on March 8, a drop of BD1 since early February. I believe that the best time to buy gold is when the price hits around BD16 because with the current market situation and economy I don’t expect gold to go much lower than that.

If our grand, grand, grandmothers were alive today I think they would have motivated us to buy new gold, if not for the investment sake for the utility sake. I think if my grandmother was alive she would have said: “Go buy something, or replace your old stuff with something new”.

Fatema AlGharbi