Move over, Tiffany. Hold on to your jewels, Graff Diamonds. There is an even bigger kid on the block. Chow Tai Fook has priced its initial public offering in Hong Kong to make it the world’s most valuable listed jeweller, worth US$19.2bn. The company is a household name in China; its shares begin trading next week under the code 1929, the year it was founded. Chinese companies love a corporate narrative as much as anyone. The question is whether investors should back its current story.

It is certainly impressive. Revenues at Chow Tai Fook rose 50 per cent in the last full financial year; profits were up by two-thirds. Now the company wants to open 200 stores a year until 2015, mostly in China, from its current 1,500. Expansion is not the full story. Same-store sales leapt 62 per cent in the six months to September. Industry-wide data are strong too. Jewellery sales grew in China at an annual rate of more than 40 per cent in the first half of this year, according to official figures, compared with overall retail sales up 17 per cent. Chinese shoppers see gold as increasingly fashionable and as a store of wealth.

Like its product, Chow Tai Fook is not cheap. Friday’s pricing of a 10.5 per cent stake at the bottom of the range puts it at 23 times expected 2012 earnings. Prada , which listed in Hong Kong in June, is trading on a multiple of 22, compared with 21 for London-listed Burberry, another China-linked stock. Tiffany trades on 18. Chow Sang Sang, a Hong Kong jeweller also expanding its higher-end offering, trades on 13.