“When I wear them, people think it is gold, so why not?” she said.
However, Mohamed al-Felawi, who runs a well-known jewelry shop, snubs the Chinese import, saying that to sell it diminishes a jeweller’s prestige.
“I would never sell this so-called Chinese gold in my shops. As a jeweller, it would be a scam for me to sell Chinese gold,” he said.
Some clients say they can do both, buy Chinese gold for fun and leave real gold to more serious matters, like the shabka.
“I bought earrings for 30 Egyptian pounds, it’s almost nothing and no one can tell that it’s not real gold,” Sylvia Tamer, 43, said.
She concedes, she would never allow her daughter to marry without having received a diamond shabka.
Wasfi Wassef, who owns a jewelry shop in Khan al-Khalili selling real gold, said his business has been hurt by the new accessories, adding that the imports could be a health hazard.
“It’s not real gold. It’s a mixture ... metals which go through a chemical treatment to get their golden color, and this treatment can cause several allergic reactions,” he said.
Doctors say Chinese gold is no more dangerous than other fake jewelry.
“Nickel can cause certain allergic reactions in people with sensitive skin, but nickel is found in many accessories, including the Chinese gold,” said Ramzi Onsi, the head of the department of dermatology in the Ahmed Maher University Hospital.
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