Real gold has been found in a Pantech SKY cellphone released in the late 2000s, drawing attention.
The case, revealed on the YouTube channel of a jewelry shop owner, "Lingling Unni," is shining a new light on the value of limited editions made in collaboration with luxury brands at the time.
On the 22nd, a video titled "This time, gold in a phone?" was posted on the jewelry YouTuber "Lingling Unni" channel. It introduced a case in which real gold was found in the "Dupont Edition" model of Pantech SKY released in 2009.
The client said, "I bought the phone in 2009," and requested an appraisal, saying, "When I replaced it, I thought I should keep it because it's gold, so I kept it just in case." The analysis found that the gold-colored logo band on the product was real gold with a purity of 18K.
The model is a feature phone that Pantech released in limited quantities in collaboration with the French luxury brand S.T. Dupont. With a premium design featuring metal buttons and a gold-colored logo, it was very popular at the time. The appraisal found the logo weighed about 0.27 don, valued at about 148,700 won based on the market price on the day of the request.
Lingling Unni said, "From Xcanvas TV to Whisen, and now the Dupont phone," adding, "You kept it well and made close to 150,000 won. That's something." The client was delighted, saying, "I'm so happy." Online commenters reacted, saying, "SKY vibes even had gold," and "I should dig through my phone drawer again."
The SKY Dupont phone was released in a limited run of 30,000 units in Sept. 2009 exclusively for SK Telecom. The launch price at the time was a high-end level, reaching about 1 million won. Pantech later completely exited the cellphone business around 2017, but it turns out that past limited-edition models have returned as an unexpected asset-building tool with value.