At the Gold Souk – Dubai's gold market – there is always a huge selection of jewelry
As for purchasing precious metals abroad, Russian legislation allows duty-free imports of goods worth no more than 65,000 rubles. That is about 100 grams of gold. Bars worth more than that must be declared and a duty must be paid, which is very disadvantageous.
There is another specific domestic risk. If a Russian customs officer decides that the bars were brought into the country not for personal use but for sale, duty will have to be paid on everything, even if the value of the imported precious metal does not exceed 65,000 rubles. From this perspective, the best option for import is not gold bars, but jewelry, which does not face such claims at customs.
The most profitable way to buy gold and silver is in those countries where a particular precious metal is an important part of the national culture. In Dubai, the largest city of the UAE, in the Deira district, is the world-famous gold market (gold souk). It has several hundred shops selling gold jewelry. Gold prices here are the most advantageous in the world.
The love of gold in the UAE is indeed great. According to Arab traditions, a woman must have gold jewelry among her belongings. Last year, in one of the hotels in Abu Dhabi (the capital), the world's first vending machine "GOLD To Go" began operating, selling gold bars and commemorative gold coins.
Silver jewelry is best purchased in Southeast Asia – for example, in Vietnam and Thailand. Silver in Vietnam is surprisingly cheap, while gold, which is the main savings instrument in that country, on the contrary, is expensive.
Silver production is one of the main traditional crafts of Thailand, and silver jewelry, down to buttons, is common in national costume. The ancient center of silverwork is the Thai city of Chiang Mai, where many craft workshops and shops selling silver items are still located today.
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