Fury as fine-gold dolls 'go rusty'
By Xu Chi |
September 1, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Bank of China's gold fuwa dolls (good luck dolls), mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and said to be made of "99.9 percent fine gold" are "rusting," according to the state television CCTV.
A man surnamed Chen from China's eastern Jiangsu Province said he spent 28,600 yuan (US$4,480) on 38 of the dolls issued by the bank in December 2007, but he found "rust stains" on the dolls' bodies last November, CCTV reported last week.
Chen said he bought the dolls as an investment and put them on top of a wardrobe at his home. He inspected them three years later to find red stains all over them.
"I tried to remove the rust by wiping or scraping the dolls, but it did not work," said Chen. "I believe some other substances in the gold have come out."
A certificate with the dolls said they were made of 99.9 percent fine gold, limited to 10,000 pieces, and approved by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games.
Chen is not the only one to doubt the purity of the "99.9 percent gold." According to CCTV, other buyers in Shandong, Shanghai and Nanjing have complained about similar stains.
The producer of the dolls, Shenzhen Eastern Gold Jade, said the "rust" spots were probably a result of the 0.1 percent impurity. An official surnamed Liu said the company used electroforming techniques, but during the process some impurities may have been left on the surface.
He insisted the dolls were 99.9 percent fine gold, claiming they were inspected by a national supervising authority, and said the stains would appear on other gold objects made using the same technique.
Chen claimed the Bank of China had offered purchasers a full refund but he rejected the deal because the price of gold doubled since 2007.
Bank officials did not confirm offering compensation, saying only that they were investigating.
A man surnamed Chen from China's eastern Jiangsu Province said he spent 28,600 yuan (US$4,480) on 38 of the dolls issued by the bank in December 2007, but he found "rust stains" on the dolls' bodies last November, CCTV reported last week.
Chen said he bought the dolls as an investment and put them on top of a wardrobe at his home. He inspected them three years later to find red stains all over them.
"I tried to remove the rust by wiping or scraping the dolls, but it did not work," said Chen. "I believe some other substances in the gold have come out."
A certificate with the dolls said they were made of 99.9 percent fine gold, limited to 10,000 pieces, and approved by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games.
Chen is not the only one to doubt the purity of the "99.9 percent gold." According to CCTV, other buyers in Shandong, Shanghai and Nanjing have complained about similar stains.
The producer of the dolls, Shenzhen Eastern Gold Jade, said the "rust" spots were probably a result of the 0.1 percent impurity. An official surnamed Liu said the company used electroforming techniques, but during the process some impurities may have been left on the surface.
He insisted the dolls were 99.9 percent fine gold, claiming they were inspected by a national supervising authority, and said the stains would appear on other gold objects made using the same technique.
Chen claimed the Bank of China had offered purchasers a full refund but he rejected the deal because the price of gold doubled since 2007.
Bank officials did not confirm offering compensation, saying only that they were investigating.
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