The World Cup is a gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup for international soccer (globally known as football). Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have represented victory: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, and the FIFA World Cup Trophy from 1974 to the present day.

The World Cup trophy, was originally named Victory. It was later renamed in honor of former FIFA president Jules Rimet. The Jules Rimet Trophy was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli (a relatively rare, semi-precious stone that is prized for its intense blue color) and depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement.

The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 (apparently melted down by the thieves) and never recovered. The replacement trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was first used in 1974. The World Cup is made of 18 carat gold with a malachite (a green-colored copper carbonate mineral) base. This green-colored base, it depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The bottom side of the trophy bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974.

The 18-karat-gold statue has been kept under lock and key at an undisclosed location since its predecessor, the Jule Rimet Trophy, was stashed under a bed during World War II, held ransom. After 1970, a new trophy, known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was designed. The experts of FIFA, coming from seven different countries, evaluated the 53 presented models, finally opting for the work of the Italian designer Silvio Gazzaniga. The new trophy is 36 cm (14.2 in) high, made of solid 18-karat (75%) gold and weighs 6.175 kg (13.6 lb).

This new trophy is not awarded to the winning nation permanently. World Cup winners retain the trophy until the next tournament and are awarded a gold-plated replica rather than the solid gold trophy.

In trying to determine the value of the world cup it has been said that the trophy would probably be insured for its replacement value, rather than its value to a collector. The cost of the 18ct gold – roughly 75% pure – multiplied by the cost of gold at the time, and then add on the manufacture or sculpting costs, and you have a new World Cup. So, a new World Cup trophy would cost about £98,182 (approximately $12,000) plus design and labor. However the cost of the trophy is really immeasurable.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

The Open Championship (a.k.a. the British Open), one of the four men’s Major Championships in the sport of golf, ends with the awarding of the iconic Claret Jug Trophy to the winner.  You may not be familiar with the origins of the Claret Jug trophy, I wasn’t.

The Claret Jug, or to use its proper name, The Golf Champion Trophy, is presented to each year’s winner of The Open Championship. Yet it was not the original prize.  When the Championship began at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland in 1860, the winner was presented with …

… the Challenge Belt, made of rich morocco leather, embellished with a silver buckle and emblems.  It wasn’t until 1872 that the “Jug” replaced the Champion’s Belt.

Like other iconic awards, like Lord Stanley’s Cup or the Green Jacket, the Claret Jug has long held a mystical and celebratory quality.  In designing the Claret Jug, it was well, just that – a claret jug. Claret is a dry red wine produced in the famous French winemaking region of Bordeaux.  The British Open Trophy, made of Sterling Silver and standing 52cm (approximately 20 inches), weighing 5.4 pounds including its base, was designed with a handle that resembles a bass clef and with insides hollowed out to hold the exact contents of a bottle of wine.  Certified appraisers have estimated that the Claret Jug may include as much as $1,200 worth of precious metals.  The sentimental and market value of the award is far greater.  It was made in Edinburgh in 1872 by Mackay Cunningham & Company.  There are now three tiers beneath the cup, engraved with the names of over 130 plus champions.  Every year, the winner’s name is engraved on the Claret Jug before it is presented to him.  The television coverage now shows the engraver poised to start work, with the commentators speculating about when he will be sure enough of the outcome, to begin hand engraving the next name.     

Held upside down, the Open’s Claret Jug delivers a perfect pour.  This style of silver jug was used to serve claret at 19th Century gatherings.  The Golf Champion’s Trophy has held cheap beer, expensive Champagne and iced tea brewed by Justin Leonard’s mother.  Tiger Woods, winner of a few “Jugs”, has taken the trophy down from the mantle at times and filled it with various libations.  “Honestly, because of the consumption, I really can’t remember,” Woods said of what he put in it.

The original claret jug is kept under lock and key in a display cabinet in the R&A clubhouse, alongside the original first prize, The Challenge Belt, which was donated to the club in 1908 by the grandchildren of Tom Morris Senior.  There are in fact four copies of the original claret jug, one in the Museum of Golf at St Andrews, another in the World Golf Hall of Fame in St Augustine, Florida.  A third travels the world to exhibitions and the champion is allowed to take a fourth home for a year. He is given a replica to keep which is curiously only two-thirds the size of the original. Since the 1980s all those champion jug-hugging moments photographed for the world on the 18th green are with a replica. The trophy is returned each year for presentation to the new champion, but many winners privately commission copies of the ancient jug for their personal collections. This tournament is golf’s oldest major championship and, given its history, it holds a lot of prestige for its victors.

The Beginning
The impetus to provide the Challenge Belt had come from the Earl of Eglinton and derived from his keen interest in medieval pageantry. He was pre-eminent in encouraging sport throughout the social spectrum and was a leading light in setting up The Open Championship. The Earl donated many trophies for competition, including a gold belt for competition among the Irvine Archers. The original Challenge Belt was purchased by the members of Prestwick Golf Club.

According to the first rule of the new golf competition: “The party winning the belt shall always leave the belt with the treasurer of the club until he produces a guarantee to the satisfaction of the above committee that the belt shall be safely kept and laid on the table at the next meeting to compete for it until it becomes the property of the winner by being won three times in succession.”

In 1870, just 10 years after The Open Championship began, Tom Morris Junior won for the third consecutive time and became the owner of the belt. The future direction of the Championship was discussed at Prestwick Golf Club’s Spring Meeting in April 1871, during which a key proposal was put forward by Gilbert Mitchell Innes: “In contemplation of St Andrews, Musselburgh and other clubs joining in the purchase of a Belt to be played for over four or more greens it is not expedient for the club to provide a Belt to be played for solely at Prestwick.”

The motion was passed, but no final decisions were reached about venues or the involvement of other clubs, with the result that The Open Championship was not played in 1871. Moves to revive the competition resumed the following year. The minutes of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, dated May 1, state that the green committee had been “empowered to enter into communication with other clubs with a view to effecting a revival of the Championship Belt, and they were authorized to contribute a sum not exceeding £15 from the funds of the club”.

To replace the original Challenge Belt, the three original clubs (Prestwick, with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers), finally agreed on September 11, 1872, to pay £10 each to provide a new trophy instead of another belt, which was a silver claret jug, and to jointly host the Open Championship. But that was only two days before eight players contested the Open. There was obviously no time to commission a new trophy and the winner was presented with what appears to be a standard, shop-bought medal (pre-dating Spike’s Trophies by 57 years). It was the first time that a medal had been presented. The famous claret jug trophy was hallmarked 1873. Its proper name was to be The Golf Champion Trophy. It was presented to the winner that year and every year for almost half a century. The first Open Champion to receive the new trophy was the 1873 winner, Tom Kidd, but Tom Morris Junior’s name was the first to be engraved on it as the 1872 winner.

In 1920 all responsibility for The Open Championship was handed over to The Royal and Ancient Golf Club. The tradition continued until three months after Bobby Jones won the championship at St Andrews in 1927. At that time the Championship Committee of the R&A decided that “in future the original Open Championship Cup be retained in possession of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and that a duplicate be obtained for presentation to the winners”. The cost of this duplicate was stated to be about £40.

In 1928, Walter Hagen won the third of his four Open titles and accepted the replica Claret Jug, having already been presented with the original in 1922 and 1924. During the half-century in which the original Claret Jug was used, twenty-eight different players held it aloft, including Harry Vardon on a record six occasions.

In 1990 a further replica was made for display in the new British Golf Museum at St Andrews and in 2000 a third was made for use in traveling exhibitions, and a fourth was created in 2003 for the same purpose.

Memorable moment: In 1999, Paul Lawrie completed the greatest comeback in Open history, starting the final round 10 strokes off the lead while being assisted by Jean Van de Velde’s unforgettable triple bogey on the 18th hole.

When it comes to eminence and esteem, it doesn’t get any classier than the Wimbledon Championships for the sport of tennis….

 Players from all over the world compete in the only grass court Grand Slam, for the rights to hold the silver gilt trophy and the sterling silver salver.   Since it started in 1877, The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly referred to as simply Wimbledon, is the oldest major championship in the sport of tennis and is widely considered to be the most prestigious.

The Gentlemen’s Singles champion receives a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The Cup has a classical style with two handles and a raised foot. The lid is formed with a pineapple on top and a head covered with a winged helmet beneath each handle. There are two decorative borders with floral work and oval styled moldings on the bowl of the Cup and on the handles. Since 1949, all champions have received a miniature replica of the trophy (height 8 ½-inches) to take with them. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: “The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World.”

The Ladies’ Singles champion receives a sterling silver salver commonly known as the “Venus Rosewater Dish”, or simply the “Rosewater Dish”. The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology.  The original 50 guineas ( somewhere close to $150) trophy was made in 1864 by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Ltd of Birmingham and is a copy of an electrotype by Caspar Enderlein from the pewter original in the Louvre.  There is a central design surrounded by four reserves, spread out to the rim.  The remainder of the tray’s surface is decorated with gilt renaissance designs and foliate motifs in relief against a rigid silver ground.  The theme of the decoration is mythological.  The central figure of Temperance, seated on a chest with a lamp in her right hand and a jug in her left, with various attributes such as a sickle, fork and caduceus around her.  The four reserves on the sides of the dish each contain a classical god, together with elements. The reserves around the rim show Minerva presiding over the seven Liberal Arts: Astrology, Geometry, Arithmetic, Music, Rhetoric, Dialectic and Grammar, each with relevant attribute.  The rim of the tray has an oval molding, much like The Cup. And again, beginning in 1949 all champions has received a miniature replica of the trophy (diameter 8 inches) for their personal collection.

The winners of the Gentlemen’s Doubles, Ladies’ Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate.  The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of Kent, and by his wife, the Duchess of Kent.

At Wimbledon, more prize money was traditionally awarded in the Gentlemen’s events than in the Ladies’ events. However, as of 2007 prize money is equal at all levels (in part in response to a powerful protest by tennis player Venus Williams).[4] This makes Wimbledon policy identical to that of the Australian Open, US Open, and most recently the French Open.

Held annually between late June and the beginning of July[2] for two weeks (usually ending, at the latest, on the second Sunday of July) at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England, the tournament is the third Grand Slam event played each year, preceded by the Australian Open and the French Open, and followed by the U.S. Open.  The tournament duration is subject to extensions for rain.

Separate tournaments are simultaneously held, all at the same venue, for Gentlemen’s Singles, Ladies’ Singles, Gentlemen’s Doubles, Ladies’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Youth tournaments – Boys’ Singles, Girls’ Singles, Boys’ Doubles and Girls’ Doubles – are also held. Additionally, special invitational tournaments are held: the 35 and over Gentlemen’s Doubles, 45 and over Gentlemen’s Doubles, 35 and over Ladies’ Doubles and wheelchair doubles.

The Championships were first played under the control of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 1877 at a ground near Worple Road, Wimbledon; the only event held was Gentlemen’s Singles. In 1884, the All England Club added Ladies’ Singles and Gentlemen’s Doubles. Ladies’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles were added in 1913. The Championships moved to their present location, at a ground near Church Road, in 1922. As with the other three Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players until the advent of the open era in tennis in 1968. Britons are very proud of the tournament but it is a source of national anguish and humour — no British man has won the singles event at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and no British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977. The Championship was first televised in 1937. For the fans who do attend, it is customary to nosh on strawberries and cream.

With the end of the hockey season coming to a close I thought it a good time to look into the famous award associated with this sport. Following are a few fun facts about the award that represents the pinnacle of the National Hockey Leagues’ success:

Height: 35-1/4 inches
Weight: 34-1/2 pounds
Material: Silver-nickel alloy
Cost: $75,000

The Stanley Cup ….

…is the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes
… was crafted in Sheffield, England
… was purchased for 10 guineas ($48.67 at the time) in 1892
… Logged more than 400,000 miles in travel during the past five seasons
… has each winning player and team management member take the Cup home for a day to share with family and friends
… has misspells on the Cup that never have been corrected: Jacques Plante’s name has been misspelled five times, (incl. “Jocko,” “Jack” and “Plant”); Bob Gainey was spelled “Gainy” when he was a player for Montreal in the 70s; Ted Kennedy was spelled “Kennedyy” in the 40s; New York Islanders was spelled “Ilanders” in 1980/81; the Toronto Maple Leafs was spelled “Leaes” in 1962/63; the Boston Bruins was spelled “Bqstqn” in 1972.

The Stanley Cup is a Silver bowl atop plinth, engraved with all past winners. Plinth is extended as required. First named the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. First contested in 1894. The original bowl was retired in 1969 because it was brittle. In case you were wondering what a plinth is, it is any flat block used as a base for something.

In baseball, basketball or football, you often hear of athletes pining for a ring. Not in hockey. When it comes to the NHL, the championship ring is nice, but every player longs to hoist the trophy. It is one of the few team sports in which you see every member personally holding, kissing and even drinking from Lord Stanley’s mug. It is one of the most famous trophies in the sporting world and has been awarded every year since 1894, except for 1919 (Spanish influenza) and 2005 (labor dispute).
Memorable moment: In 1989, in the only all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final within the last 16 years, Lanny McDonald raised the Stanley Cup trophy for the first time in what would be his final NHL game, as the Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six games.

For some more information you may want to visit the following link: http://www.tmlfever.com/NHLTrophies.html

The Borg-Warner Trophy has been presented in the winner’s circle after every Indianapolis 500 race since 1936.  The very large famous trophy is a multi-tiered award which contains the bas-relief (3-D) sculpture of the likeness of each driver who has won the race since its inception in 1911.  Along with the sculpted winning driver’s image is the driver’s name, date of victory, and average speed.  This information is alternated with the faces in a checkerboard pattern. Included on the base is the gold likeness of Tony Hulman, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1945-1977.  The trophy design includes wings of victory “handles” on each side of the trophy to symbolize speed.  On the top of the trophy is a man waving a checkered flag. Because this man is depicted naked, after the tradition of ancient Greek athletes, the trophy is most often photographed so that the man’s arm is swooping down in front of him.

The Borg-Warner trophy is made of sterling silver and is just less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighing nearly 153 pounds. The original trophy was designed to display images of the faces of 80 Indy 500 winners.  The base from the original has been expanded in order to hold additional winners. This was done most recently in 2004 when space was added to accommodate all winners through the 2034 race. The actual trophy is not given to the winner; it remains at the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Since 1988, the winner receives an 18-inch (460 mm) tall replica of the trophy, called a “Baby Borg” at a cost exceeding $30,000, during the preparations for the following year’s race. Prior to 1988, winners received a 24-inch upright model of the trophy mounted on a walnut plaque.  During the race, the trophy is displayed trackside.  When the winner pulls into Victory Lane, the trophy is placed on the rear of the car behind the driver.  This tradition dates back to 1911, when Ray Harroun won the race with an average speed of 74.602 miles per hour.  The unique tradition, of handing the winner a bottle of milk at race end, along with the trophy presentation, continues today. 

In 1935, U.S. automotive supplier, the BorgWarner Automotive Company, commissioned designer Robert J. Hill to create the Borg-Warner Trophy at a cost of $10,000.  The trophy was refurbished in 1991 and again in 2004 to create space for additional winners.  Today the trophy is valued in excess of $1.5 million dollars! Unveiled at a 1936 dinner hosted by then-Speedway owner Eddie Rickenbacker, the trophy was officially declared the annual prize for Indianapolis 500 victors. Louis Meyer, was that year’s champion and its first recipient.

Prior to the inaugural 1936 Borg-Warner Trophy was the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy, which was awarded from 1911 through 1935.  The trophy was named after Frank Wheeler, one of the Speedway’s four original founders, and George Schebler, one of the two partners in a carburetor company that merged into a group that formed BorgWarner in 1928.  The founding organizations were Borg & Beck, Warner Gear, Marvel-Schebler and Mechanics Universal Joint.

The Borg-Warner Indianapolis 500 Trophy is synonymous with top performances, speed and leading-edge automotive technology.

Some Memorable moments:

The trophy has had quite a history.  The Indy track historian has noted a particular story where a Butler University student was given the trophy to watch in the 1930s before race day.  The young frat student hid the trophy under his bed one night and proceeded to have a night out. Upon his return to his fraternity house, the man found the trophy missing. Frantically looking for the “lost” trophy, he went looking in the frat house’s basement.  He found the trophy surrounded by his frat brothers drinking beer out of it. 115 beers were inside the trophy. After emptying the beer, the smell of beer stayed with the trophy.  To solve this problem prior to the race, he decided to take a shower – taking the trophy in with him!

For over forty years, 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner Johnnie Parsons’ name was misspelled on the trophy as Johnny Parsons (which is how his son spelled his name when he raced in USAC and CART), an error that was corrected during the 1991 restoration of the trophy.

Eight drivers have won the BorgWarner trophy twice: Tommy Milton; Bill Vukovich; Rodger Ward; Gordon Johncock; Emerson Fittipaldi; Al Unser, Jr.; Arie Luyendyk and Helio Castroneves.  There are five, three-time winners: Louis Mayer; Wilbur Shaw; Mauri Rose; Bobby Unser; and Johnny Rutherford.  And, three, four-time winners: Al Unser, Sr.; Rick Mears; and A.J. Foyt.

The Preakness Stakes Woodlawn Vase was created in 1860 for the now defunct Woodlawn Racing Association in Louisville, Kentucky.  The Woodlawn Vase is presented each year to the winning Preakness horse owner.  Estimated in value at over $1 million, this award for Thoroughbred horse racing excellence, easily makes its sterling silver design one of the most valuable trophies in American sports.  Until 1953, winners were awarded possession of the vase until the following year.  That all changed when A. G. Vanderbilt’s Native Dancer won it but his wife did not want to take on the immense responsibility of the vase’s safekeeping.  Now the winning owner is awarded a $30,000 sterling half-sized replica on a permanent basis.  The reproduction requires eight weeks to produce.  The origional perpetual vase is on display at The Baltimore Museum of Art and brought to Pimlico under guard for the annual running of the Preakness. 

Standing 34 inches tall and weighing 29 pounds, 12 ounces, the Woodlawn Vase has a colorful history.  Moving from winner to winner since its creation stopped with the outbreak of the Civil War.  While the war was on, racing was put on hold and the vase had to be kept safe from being discovered and possibly melted into shot.   To keep it out of harm’s way during the Civil War it was buried at Woodlawn with others of the Moore family plates and then dug up again for the next competition in 1866.

In addition to the awarding of the valuable vase, a blanket of Black-Eyed Susans are draped across the shoulders of the winning horse.   The 18X90 inch blanket takes three people two full days to create.   A layer of greenery is first attached to a perforated spongy rubber base.  Then a string of more than 80 bunches of Viking daises are interwoven into the holes in the matte.  The flowers are put through a number of extensive steps to preserve them for the race.   The Black-Eyed Susan was declared the state flower by the Maryland legislature in 1918 and the Preakness flower in 1940.   It is said the Susan’s flower usually has 13 petals, which is taken to symbolize the 13 original colonies, of which Maryland was one.  The flower reproduces the state’s black and yellow colors.

The Woodlawn Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.  The race, which is the second leg of the famed “Triple Crown” of horse racing,  is open to three-year-old horses.  The race is contested over a distance of one mile on turf.  The Woodlawn Stakes is run on the third Saturday of May.  The race is named in honor of the “Most Valuable Trophy in Sports,” the Woodlawn Vase.

While the Kentucky Derby may be known as “The Run for the Roses,” everyone knows what the racers really want to be holding in their hands at the end of the race: that shiny, gold Kentucky Derby trophy. The trophy’s main body is an 8-inch-diameter covered cup made of 14-karat spun gold. Sitting atop the cup is a horse and jockey. The cup and figure are 17 inches tall and sit on a jade base, bringing the trophy to 22 inches and about 3-1/2 pounds. Produced today, as it was initially in 1924.

The most well-known contest in the international horse racing circuit, the Kentucky Derby is held annually on the first Saturday in May. The legendary Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., is the only track on which the Derby has been run. The Derby is the first in a triumvirate of the sport’s most prestigious races – collectively known as the Triple Crown – that also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Although the Belmont Stakes is the oldest race, the Derby is generally considered the most prestigious. “It is the longest continuously run sporting event in America,” says Lane Gold of Churchill Downs. Also, since it’s the first race in the Triple Crown, it tends to get a lot of attention. This year more than 130,000 people will see the race firsthand with millions more watching on television.

The Kentucky Derby track is 1-1/4 miles and takes about two minutes to run. In fact, there has only been one horse to run the track in less than two minutes: Secretariat, who finished in 1:59 2/5 in 1973. A maximum of 20 entrants is allowed; should there be too many registered, preference would be given to horses who have won higher earnings in the graded sweepstakes races leading up to the Derby. Horses must be 3-year-old thoroughbreds and, says Gold, “You have to be a Triple Crown-nominated horse to run.” Generally the owners nominate their own horses to run in the three events. Churchill Downs and its Derby Days are synonymous with many traditions, such as mint juleps and the wreath of roses draped around the winning horse’s neck. But one of the finest – and newest – traditions in the Derby is the presentation of the Kentucky Derby trophy.

Spun Gold
The first Derby trophy was presented in 1924, making it a relative newcomer to the steeped traditions of the blueblood racing crowd. Prior to then, the winners received a silver plate, cup or bowl – there was no set prize. But for the race’s 50th anniversary, Churchill Downs’ president held a contest to design a 14-karat gold permanent trophy for the winner. Louisville’s oldest retail firm, Lemon & Son Jewelers, won the contest with its design of an intricate gold cup and figure. The trophy was designed by George Louis Graff, and Lemon & Son has made the trophy since winning the contest. And just like Southern traditions, not a lot has changed. “It’s made the same way it always has been,” says Gary Rossenberg, Lemon & Son’s general manager. “They use the same original dies that we made in 1924.” The only changes to design were for the Derby’s 75th and 100th anniversary cups, when jewels were added to the cup. Otherwise the base is the only part of the trophy to change: It used to be made of marble; now it’s jade. The manufacturing process begins with a round sheet of 14-karat gold placed in a lathe to create the cup. “The cup is the hardest part to make,” Rossenberg says. “It’s a process called spinning; the gold is shaped around a series of cones and bowls.” The spinning process is a very delicate operation; if the temperature is changed even the slightest during the process, the gold will crack – forcing Lemon & Son to begin anew. This has only happened once, in 1987. But spinning is important because it gives the gold its shiny appearance. “If you were to cast it, you wouldn’t get that finish,” says Rossenberg.
The trim – which comprises the handles, rim and stem of the cup – is cast in 18-karat gold and hand-fitted to the cup. After the trim is applied, it is hand-engraved to enhance the detail. The top plate where the figure stands is 14-karat green gold, as is the lotus flower on the trophy’s base. The horse and jockey are made of solid 18-karat gold with a special hand finish. “It takes about six months to make because of all the different aspects to it,” says Rossenberg. He estimates almost 1,000 man hours go into the trophy’s manufacturing, the cup demanding the greatest part of that. During the manufacturing process, approximately 40 percent of the original gold is lost through fillings, engraving, polishing and shrinking. When completed, the trophy is given a home in a lined mahogany box, to be engraved after the race is won.
Trophy Travails
Lemon & Son also makes three smaller sterling silver versions of the Derby trophy. These are presented to the jockey, the trainer and the breeder. Many people think that the jockey receives the gold trophy; but it is actually given to the owner of the winning horse. The large trophy is worth about $67,000 (1998); the price fluctuates based on the value of gold. The sterling silver trophies are worth about $5,000 each, says Rossenberg.
At such a high value, you can be sure that two security guards follow the trophy wherever it goes. On the day of the Derby, Lemon & Son brings the trophy to Churchill Downs and locks it up – guarded, of course – in the office of Churchill Downs’ president. Only when it is time to make the winning presentation does the trophy emerge into the daylight on that first Saturday in May. But even such diligent protection can’t prevent mishaps from occurring, says Rossenberg. One year, the governor of Kentucky stepped up to the dais to present the trophy to the winner – and promptly dropped the priceless cup, leaving a big dent. “They gave it back to us and we repaired it,” says Rossenberg. The 1937 trophy is on display at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, saved from disgrace after being found in a pawn shop in New Orleans. “They had stripped all the gold off,” Rossenberg says. “They even rubbed the winner’s name off the plate. The only way we knew who it belonged to is we put a serial number on the cup.” Lemon & Son took the naked trophy, fixed it up and gave it to the museum.

A Permanent Award
Luckily, most cups make it to their new owners without a scratch. The horse owners this year will be competing not only for the chance to hold aloft that shiny trophy, but also for a winning purse of $1 million, of which the winner takes $700,000. That’s a far cry from the first Derby winnings: $2,850 in 1875. The second-place winner takes $170,000, third place $85,000, and fourth place $45,000. The stakes are high, as is the fee to enter a horse in the Kentucky Derby: $15,000. But it’s worth it to thoroughbred owners and jockeys; the Kentucky Derby has always been a place where the “most exciting two minutes in sports” have led to numerous records being broken and history being made. For example, only three fillies have ever won the Derby. And since 1919, only 11 horses have swept the Triple Crown, winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. The legendary Secretariat, a name even nonhorseracing fans will recognize, is one of the 11.
And this year on May 2, with millions watching, one lucky and talented horse will nose across the finish line before any other – and while fresh red roses rain down from the stands, the thankful owner will sidestep the sweet petals as he takes the coveted Kentucky Derby trophy. After all, flowers do wilt – and you can’t drink champagne from them.
© 1998, Awards and Recognition Association

The Larry O’Brien Trophy is a Silver and Vermeil Statue – Basketball on Plinth. Vermeil (pronounced vehr-MAY), is also known as silver gilt, is a combination of sterling silver, gold, and other precious metals. A Plinth in architecture is the platform or base upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument, or structure rests. The trophy is approximately sixteen pounds and stands about two feet tall and valued at $13,500.  It is designed to look like a basketball about to enter a basketball net. The basketball itself is the same size as a regulation size NBA basketball.

The NBA Championship Trophy was created, and named as such, in 1977 and is awarded to the winner of the NBA Finals, at the conclusion of every basketball season. The NBA Championship Trophy was renamed the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 1984 in honor of former NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien upon his retirement.

A new Larry O’Brien Trophy is made every year, unlike the Stanley Cup, and the winning team maintains permanent possession of that trophy. The trophy is engraved with the year and team name, and the trophies are often prominently displayed in the team’s arena. Originally this trophy was called the Walter A. Brown Trophy after the league pioneer and Boston Celtic owner. An earlier NBA Championship bowl also was named after Brown. 

Lawrence (Larry) O’Brien, a member of Former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s cabinet as U.S. Postmaster General, became the commissioner of the National Basketball Association in 1975. O’Brien was a vital carpenter of the NBA, building basketball interest among fans. Attendance doubled and television revenue tripled during his tenure, while the most recent broadcast of the 2005 NBA Finals reached 205 countries. In 1984, the sport’s annual championship trophy was renamed in his honor of his “Everyday Greatness”.

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Its official name is the Academy Award of Merit, but the origin of the less cumbersome nickname “Oscar” is not clear. For years, Bette Davis claimed to have coined the name when she quipped that the statue’s backside resembled her husband (Oscar). However, Davis recently relinquished her claim when references to the moniker were found in print three years before her 1937 win.

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been trying to solve the mystery. “I had three claimants,” he said. “I was able to disprove two, but I find the third one rather suspicious, which is a very unsatisfying conclusion.” The preferred story is that in the early ’30s, Academy librarian and eventual executive director Margaret Herrick commented to staff that the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar – and the nickname stuck. Officially, the Academy started using the name in 1939.

Golden Touch
“The Oscar is better now than it was 25 years ago because the gold content has been increased,” the manufacturer of the statuettes states. “I believe the Oscar contains more gold than any other famous award.” The specific dollar value, however, is a secret: “The Academy wants them to be considered priceless”. But because of the simple design, “If there was no gold, they’d be worth less than $100 each.”
Each statuette takes 10 people and about 5 1/2 hours of labor to make, close to an hour in polishing alone. “Though we could probably do it quicker, we take three to four weeks to cast 50 statuettes”. “It may sound silly but each one is done to perfection and handled with white gloves. After all, look at the people who will be clutching it on Oscar night.”
The special care is not wasted on Bruce Davis, who first watched the manufacturing process about two years ago. “I was very impressed,” Davis says. “I knew it was a complex process, but to see it done with such care was very reassuring.”
Building a Legend
The Oscar stands 13-1/2 inches tall, not including the 3-inch base, and weighs a deceivingly hefty 8-1/2 pounds. The figure is hand cast in brittanium – an alloy of tin, copper and antimony that is much like pewter – in a 45-pound steel mold. The statuette is then deburred, degreased and polished to a mirror finish. “We spend about 45 minutes just polishing each one” the manufacturer says.
Several layers of metal plating and polishing between each application give the statuette its perfect finish. The brittanium cast first receives a light copper electroplate, then heavy copper. Nickel plating is applied to seal the pores of the metal. Then the statuette is washed in silver-plate, which adheres well to gold. Finally, after more polishing, the statuette is plated in 24-karat gold and receives a baked lacquer finish.
Of course, they’re not engraved until later because the winners are top secret, even to the people who polish and primp the Oscar. The engraver receives the list of winners only after the ceremony, then engraves the plates to ship back to Hollywood.
Timeless Design
The idea for the Oscar was hatched in 1927, when then-MGM President Louis B. Mayer proposed that the one-week-old Academy create a special film award. Cedric Gibbons, MGM art director, and sculptor George Stanley are credited for the design – a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing atop a reel of film whose five spokes symbolize the five branches of the Academy: actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers.
Unlike many other big-name awards, the Oscar has changed very little since its birth in the late ’20s. The design has remained identical except for slight variations in the base, which was originally slightly smaller and made of Belgian black marble. Even the base – now made of spun brass and plated in black nickel – hasn’t changed for 53 years.
The only other variations were in materials. For the first three years, the statuettes were made of gold-plated solid bronze, which was changed to brittanium to ensure a flawless finish. Later, during World War II, the statuettes were cast in plaster when manufacturing with metal was restricted. But the plaster casts were replaced quickly after the war.
All of the plaster versions were thought to be lost until recently when one was discovered in the Academy vault. More than a half century later, it’s amazing any survived. “I imagine the Academy was quite embarrassed about [the plaster versions] at the time,” says Davis. “They were probably all banged against a trash can or something.”
In addition to the Oscar, ARA member R.S. Owens manufactures scores of other big-name awards such as the Emmy, the MTV Music Video Award and the NFL’s MVP Award. Upscale awards may be old hat to Siegel now, but he still remembers the uphill battle of the early years.
Name Recognition
The Oscar is arguably the most widely recognized trophy in the world. The Academy’s Davis attributes its notoriety to three things. First, its age: “[The Academy] was the first organization to begin giving awards in film, so the public has been aware of it since the early 1930s.”
Second, its status in the film industry: “I think it has retained that aura because, even if people aren’t absolutely sure what the Academy is, they do know that it’s the people who make movies looking at all their accomplishments for the year and selecting the outstanding examples.”
Third, its timeless design: “It’s a gorgeous piece of sculpture with a machine-age, streamlined design that was popular in the 1920s and has managed to continue to look modern to this day,” Davis says.
Its popularity has made the Academy Awards an national tradition each spring, having been interrupted only three times in its 70-year history. The first delay was in 1938 when destructive floods hit Los Angeles; the second, in 1968 out of respect for Dr. Martin Luther King, whose funeral was held on the day originally scheduled for the awards; and most recently, in 1981 after the assassination attempt on former President Ronald Reagan.
Precious Cargo
Every year the Academy orders 50 to 65 new Oscars, depending on how many are left over from the previous year and the number of potential winners. “We have to plan for the maximum to win in every category – a maximum assault,” Davis says. More than 2,300 statuettes have been awarded since the first one was presented in 1928.
Leftovers will be kept in a vault until next year’s ceremony and are sometimes used to replace damaged statuettes. Recipients who request replacements are required to turn in the damaged trophy. “The only way to accumulate them is to keep doing wonderful film work,” Davis says.
The Academy owns many historically significant Oscars. “Often heirs of recipients will return them to us, or recipients themselves will leave instructions to return their Oscar to the Academy,” Davis says. “They don’t want something undignified to happen to it.” The statuettes are displayed from time to time at Academy headquarters or at the nearby Herrick film library.
Of course, security is always a concern when the statuettes are transported from place to place. Fifty statuettes were shipped on March 11 from the manufacturer’s factory to Hollywood by Brinks truck and a special United Airlines charter. Fortunately, none has ever been lost in transport, but there are at least a few Oscars on the lam.
“We recently became aware that we lost one,” says Davis. During the 1972 ceremony, two winners were called but only one was in attendance. One winner came up and claimed her award and the other statuette was left on the podium as they broke for commercial. Someone must have pocketed it, Davis says.
Recently it turned up on the black market. “The Academy will make every effort to get it back,” he says. The Academy is able to track missing Oscars because they are numbered, starting in 1949 with the somewhat arbitrary number 501.
“[Oscars] have always been among the most valuable things that a person in this industry can acquire, but they recently have gained a secondary financial value,” Davis says.
© 1998, Awards and Recognition Association

With the 2010 Winter Olympics upon us, it may be time to look back at the history of what the competitors will be all striving for – the Olympic Medal.  

The 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, are already a distant memory for most people. But the medal-winning athletes who participated have a daily and permanent reminder of their great feats: their Olympic medals.

Even at the first modern Olympiad in 1896, organizers realized the power of a beautiful medal. The first-place winners were given silver medals instead of gold, but they didn’t mind–after all, the winners of the second Olympic Games were given pieces of modern art as their prize! That ended quickly at the next Games when the medal presentation was revived, and since then the Olympic medals have been a symbol of international dedication and sportsmanship – on and off the field.

It is impossible to say how many medals have been given out over the years, says Barbara Gresham, senior media coordinator at the U.S. Olympic Committee, because the way the medals are distributed has changed. For instance, today swimmers participating in preliminary qualifying rounds of medal-winning relay teams are awarded a medal even if they don’t swim in the final event. Similarly, the entire basketball team now gets medals, whereas only players who actually saw court time in the medal-winning game used to receive them.

The host country is responsible for the design and production of the athlete’s medals. As the next host city prepares to host the Games, American firms are gearing up to present their designs to the organizing committee, which generally holds a contest to find the best and most creative medal design.

A Pressured Situation
It is a long and very detailed process. The manufacturer begins the actual production in January and delivers the medals in May. Sent in the shipment were 604 gold, 604 silver and 630 bronze medals.

The production process begins with a three-dimensional clay model of both the front and back of the medal. The front of each medal was the same, but the backs were customized with a pictogram depicting each sport’s athlete in action. Thirty-one different models had to be made for the backsides. “It was modeled three times the actual size.” “You can get it a little more accurate when you pantograph it down (that way).”

Plaster-rubber molds were then made with an epoxy that is easily pantographed. To make the dies, the mold was taken to the pantograph machine, where the design was reduced to actual size – 70 millimeters in diameter (2 3/4 inch) and 5 millimeters thick (3/8 inch – and traced into steel. The resulting steel hubs are actually positive replications of the models. The die is then made from the hubs.

To make the medals, the front and back dies are stamped together. “They’re not struck so much as they are squeezed.” The dies come together under 1,000 tons per inch of pressure. “It’s an incredible amount of power; each piece had to be resqueezed three times to get the detail up into the die.” To ensure a perfect match with the die before being resqueezed, each medal was individually placed and checked by hand as it lay in the die.

Making the gold medal was harder than the others. There are very strict guidelines for the materials used; the gold medal must be made out of sterling silver and contain at a minimum 6 grams of pure gold. One of the most difficult things to do technically was the gold medal. It’s a sandwich of gold with sterling (inside). It had to be centered (and struck) at a specific temperature so the metals would bond. Just gold plating the silver wouldn’t have been enough gold. It has to be clad and then gold plated because of the silver (edges).

Each medal was engraved on the edge with the event name. Medals were then polished and drilled for ribbon holes. The ribbon holder was soldered in place, the embroidered ribbon attached and then the medals were placed into special presentation cases.

The Gold (and Silver and Bronze) Standard
The International Olympic Committee has strict guidelines on the production of the Olympic medals. According to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Gresham, the medals must be at least 60 millimeters in diameter and 3 millimeters thick. The silver in both the gold and silver medals must be at least 925-1000 grade, the gold medal must have at least 6 grams of pure gold and the bronze medal must be pure bronze.

All medal designs must be approved by the games’ organizing committee, the country’s Olympic committee, and finally the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board. Although the Winter Games haven’t had a consistent standard design on either the front or the back, “The summer medals’ design has been basically the same since 1928 on the front,” says Gresham. “The organizing committee can add a personal design on the rear.” This unique design element usually reflects the character of the city and country where the Games are being held.

The main figure is Lady Victory holding a wreath over her head and carrying palm leaves. The ancient Olympic stadium in Greece is in the background with a horse-drawn chariot in front of it. The front is finished with the image of a Grecian urn and the official Olympic rings. The date and place of the games also appears on the front.

For the Atlanta games the focus of the medals’ rear was a quilt of leaves to symbolize both the host city of Atlanta and the spirit of the Olympic games. Quilt-making is a long-time Southern tradition and quilts are a symbol of unity, a marriage of nations and cultures blended together, a continuing theme of the Olympics. The leaves woven into the quilt both reflect Atlanta – known as the City of Trees – and Olympic history – in the past, a crown of olive leaves went to the victors. The pictograms of athletes on the back were designed to look like ancient Greek urn paintings.

The Post-Medal Life
The manufacturer also made 60,000 commemorative solid bronze medals, which were given to all participating athletes, sponsors, officials and others involved in creating the 1996 Summer Games. There were 271 medal events in Atlanta, in contrast to the recent 1998 Nagano Winter Games, in which there were only 68. The U.S. Olympics Committee restricts American athletes from using their medals in advertising; the designers and manufacturers of the medals are similarly restrained.

The medals for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games won’t be identical to Atlanta’s striking medals, but one similarity is sure to occur: The medals will bring the same feelings of joy, amazement and pride to the medal-winning athletes and their countries.
© 1998, Awards and Recognition Association