When a jewellery chain expands faster than Starbucks in China, should investors be braced for a less-than-glittering finale? Or is this simply another example of the breadth of products that China’s emerging consumers are only beginning to realise they cannot live without?

Chow Tai Fook, the world’s largest jeweller by market capitalisation, is opening roughly a store every two days in China, Starbucks has been launching one every four, on average. By 2015, this will give Starbucks more than 1,500 stores, Chow Tai Fook already has almost that many, is in more than 300 cities and plans to expand at its current rate for at least the next two years. Whew! For those who believe Chinese consumerism will be a fast-forward version of western markets’ progress, this makes sense.

In addition to getting used to paying near-western prices for fancy coffee, the Chinese are still only just getting into diamond engagement rings. About a third of couples buy them, compared with about four-fifths of westerners. Chow Tai Fook – relatively well-known and relatively affordable – is well positioned to capture growth.