Eight-year matchstick Eiffel Tower fails at Guinness Records

Richard Plaud, a French model maker, was turned down by the Guinness World Records despite all his effort put into completing a 7.19-meter long model of the Eiffel Tower out of 706,900 matchsticks based on the fact that the matches he used were not available commercially, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro on Tuesday (local time).

Representatives for Guinness claimed that he bought matches without their heads from a match manufacturer to save time on his project, adding that it is a matter of fairness because commercial match products were used to make all the other creations.

Plaud spent 4,200 hours building this match-made Eiffel Tower over eight years. The matches used as part of his creation weigh over 15 kilograms. Since it was first released last month in Charente-Maritime, southwestern France, where he lives, around 4,000 visitors have come to take a look.

In response, Plaud expressed discontent with Guinness’ rejection, which he described as an incomprehensible, disappointing decision. He claimed that the organization does not appreciate his work and give recognition to the maker's intentions. He has considered raising an objection, but there is a slim chance that the result will be reversed as Guinness is not obligated to respond to his claims.

Toufic Daher, a Lebanese model maker, holds the record as the maker of the highest match Eiffel Tower in the world. Back in 2009, he unveiled his 6.53-meter tall replica of the Eiffel Tower out of matches in Beirut, Lebanon. His project also gained significant attention because he worked on it while sitting in his wheelchair due to paralysis of the lower extremities.

Daher used around six million matches in his work, which cost him 11,000 dollars over 2,316 hours.


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