Creating the Beijing Olympic Medals
As with everything else associated with the recently completed 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the medals themselves were quite a production. Each was inlaid with jade: the bronze with the most common dark green jade, the silver with a more rare lighter green stone, and finally the gold medal which was adorned with the most precious of all – white jade. Following are a selection of photos illustrating the sequence of manufacturing these stunning awards medals. Click on each for enlarged views.
Completed Olympic Medals with Ribbons.
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Reverse side of the Olympic medals.
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Selecting the jade stone.
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Cutting the jade stone.
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Cutting the jade stone.
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Cutting the jade stone.
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Polishing the jade stone.
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Inspecting the finished carved jade.
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Sculpting the design for the reverse side.
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Stacks of blanks for the bronze medal.
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Stamping the medals.
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Reverse side of the medal after stamping.
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Putting the finishing touches on the engraving.
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Affixing the jade collar to the front half of the medal.
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The two halves of each medal before final assembly.
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Obverse of the completed medals.
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