Aurel Mânzățeanu, the founder of Coriolan Aur-osrald SRL, rejects the accusations aroused by the ANPC controls led by Cristian Popescu Piedone against the jewelry stores.
Photo: ANPC /Facebook
After the checks of consumer protection have brought to light that common metals are used in the jewelry marketed at the price of pure gold from several specialty stores in Iași, the jeweler Aurel Mânzățeanu claims that this practice is a technical necessity, legally regulated.
It all started from the descents of March 14 and 15, 2025, when the president of the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), Cristian Popescu Piedone, coordinated a series of controls in the jewelry stores in Iași, Suceava, Piatra Neamț and Bacău. During these checks, it was found that some jewelry marketed as gold contained, in fact, common metal inside, being sold at the price of pure gold.
On this occasion, Piedone used a magnet and cut a bracelet, revealing the presence of a steel core. He said:
“They sell steel at the price of gold“ANPC applied fines and confiscated jewelry worth about 2.5 million euros, and the Economic Crime Investigation Service opened criminal files for deception and counterfeit.
Subsequently, the College of operators with precious metals and precious stones (COMPP) requested clarifications from the ANPC president.
Aurel Mânzățeanu, the founder of Coriolan Aur-osrald SRL and one of the most experienced jewelery in Iași, argues that the use of certain components of common metal in jewelry is not only legal, but also technically necessary.
“A bracelet, for example, can contain metal arches to operate correctly. Some manufacturers make them more solid. You, as a jeweler, cannot know what springs the manufacturer used there. As far as I am concerned, I extracted some from several jewelry and approximated that to the ones brought from Turkey these components weigh around 0.4 grams, and to those brought from Italy, around 0.2 grams “ says Aurel Mânzățeanu, for ziaruldeiasi.ro.
Specialists in the field say that the use of common metals in jewelry is a technical necessity and not a way to deceive customers.
“Through my hand, in 1993, hundreds of kilograms of precious metals have passed since the establishment of the company, in 1993, I think over a ton. says the co-founder Coriolan Aur-Sumarald.
