Want a royal engagement ring but don’t want to pay the tens of thousands that the original cost? Then there’s good news for you: Chinese manufacturers are mass-producing royal engagement ring replicas, cashing in on royal wedding hysteria by selling the knockoffs for just a few dollars.
Factories in Yiwu, in Zhejiang province in Eastern China, have been churning out the ring replicas as copies of the jewelry have become popular around the world, according to a Reuters report. See photos here.
The engagement ring, which is a blue sapphire with diamonds, belonged to the deceased Princess Diana and was shown off to the public by Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton in November. The couple is set to marry in April.
Jewelry maker Zhou Mingwang told Reuters that he jumped at the chance to profit off the fake rings as soon as Prince William and Middleton announced their engagement.
“When they announced their engagement, it was just by chance that I saw their ring on the Internet. I felt that this had a great commemorative value and thought there was a good market for the product,” Zhou told the news agency.
The royal couple’s ring may have cost about 30,000 British pounds ($47,000), but the replicas are going for a wholesale price of 3 yuan (about $0.50) for acrylic and metallic alloy rings, or 50 yuan (about $7.50) for knock-offs made of zircon or copper/silver combinations.
Factories in Yiwu, in Zhejiang province in Eastern China, have been churning out the ring replicas as copies of the jewelry have become popular around the world, according to a Reuters report. See photos here.
The engagement ring, which is a blue sapphire with diamonds, belonged to the deceased Princess Diana and was shown off to the public by Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton in November. The couple is set to marry in April.
Jewelry maker Zhou Mingwang told Reuters that he jumped at the chance to profit off the fake rings as soon as Prince William and Middleton announced their engagement.
“When they announced their engagement, it was just by chance that I saw their ring on the Internet. I felt that this had a great commemorative value and thought there was a good market for the product,” Zhou told the news agency.
The royal couple’s ring may have cost about 30,000 British pounds ($47,000), but the replicas are going for a wholesale price of 3 yuan (about $0.50) for acrylic and metallic alloy rings, or 50 yuan (about $7.50) for knock-offs made of zircon or copper/silver combinations.
