Trophy Store Blog

Its nearly that time of the year again, the 82nd Annual Academy Awards are due to take place this Sunday 7th March.  More commonly known as the Oscars, this is one of the highlights of the film calendar year.  Here at Trophy Store, one of our more popular products is our range of Oscar Trophies which many of our customers love for their own awards style evenings.

One of the guys here was doing some research to see who was up for what award this year when they came across this fantastic info-graphic which contains loads of facts and figures about the Oscars.  Thanks to the guys at Locate TV for creating this great graphic.

Source: LocateTV

Pretty cool isn't it, if you want to watch the awards live then you'll have to stay up quite late if you are in the UK like us.

The Rugby Six Nations Cup Event has only been in existence since 2000 previously it was referred to as the Five Nations Championship.  Every year this event takes place and involves six European International Rugby Union Teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy. 
Every team must field 15 players to take part during the two halves which are made up of 40 minutes each.  However, should a player do something that is deemed to not be within the spirit of the game or tackles incorrectly the referee has the chance to send them to the sin bin.  The player sent here remains in this position for 10 minutes.

This year’s Rugby Six Nations Cup Event commenced on Saturday 6th February 2010.  Every team involved will play the others over the next 9 weeks with the final matches taking place on the 20th March 2010.  The team that scores the most points during these matches is the team that is declared the winner.  For each game a team wins they are awarded 2 points, if the game is drawn then each team is awarded 1 point.  However, if a team do not win then of course no points will be awarded to them.

Each team will play the other teams either at their own grounds or away at the others.  The home matches for England take place at Twickenham near London.  As for the rest of the teams Ireland’s take place at Croke Park, Dublin currently, Scotland’s take place at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, the Wales games happen at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.  When it comes to the France games these may occur at the Stade de France, Paris and Italy’s will happen at the Stadio Flaminio, Rome.

But along with the presentation of the Six Nations Cup  there are other trophies that certain teams will be competing for.  These include the Triple Crown that is contested between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Calcutta Cup which is contested between England and Scotland.  Then there is the Centenary Quaich (a drinking vessel) that is contested for between Scotland and Ireland.  Also there is the Millennium Trophy which has been contested since 1988 between England and Ireland.  Finally there is the latest trophy known as the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy that Italy and France contest for and have done since 2007.

Although the Six Nations Cup is the one of the rugby trophies that all the teams would like to win, when it comes to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales winning the Triple Crown is also very important.  Yet before 2006 the team that did win this contest were never actually presented with a trophy.  The first team to actually receive the trophy was Ireland and they are the current holders of it after beating Wales in March 2009. 
 
Should a team beat all others in the Rugby Six Nations Cup Event then it is said that they have won the “Grand Slam”.  There are only 3 teams who have taken part in this event since its beginning who have won the “Grand Slam” title back to back.  These are England, Wales and France.  But the team that has won the most of these is England with 12, followed closely by Wales with and France with 8.  As for Scotland they have only one a Grand Slam title 3 times and Ireland just twice.

Photo Source - Wikipedia

Here at Trophy Store we often hear of a few mishaps and accidents involving trophies - we usually blog about them when we do spot them :)

So we couldn't resist but report on Declan Donnelly (the smaller one from Ant and Dec!) who admitted to once dropping one of his TV award trophies on his foot after a presentation.  He had to make a trip to hospital afterwards to treat a gash on his foot.  Ant also told how he and Dec sometimes fight over their award trophies as sometimes they are only given one trophy instead of one each.

One of the most famous football trophies to be presented today is the FIFA world cup.  However, it is hard to believe that the FIFA World Cup Trophy has only been in existence since 1974.  Before this the winners of the Football world cup would be presented with the Jules Rimet Trophy.

The reason that the new trophy was created was that Brazil won the Jules Rimet Trophy outright in 1970 because they had won this competition for the third time.  So then a new trophy had to be commissioned and made. 

This new trophy was used for the first time in 1974 and was presented to Franz Beckenbauer who was captain of the West German team.  This new trophy was designed by Silvio Gazzaniga and manufactured by Bertoni Milano. 

The design of this particular trophy is quite elaborate.  On it you can see two human figures holding up the Earth whilst on the base is engraved in out pouring letters “FIFA World Cup”.  It is made from 11lb of 18 Carat solid gold and the height of the actual trophy itself is 14.4 inches.  To help the cup stand properly the base measures 5.1 inches wide and contains two layers of malachite (a carbonate mineral).

The names of those countries whose teams win this particular football trophy cannot be seen as they are engraved in the bottom of the trophy.  The information that is engraved on the base in English shows the year of the competition along with the name of the nation that won it at that time.

At present there are still enough plaques on the base to allow a further 9 nations to have their details engraved on to.  After the FIFA World Cup competition in 2038 a decision will need to be made as to whether this trophy should be retired and a new one takes it place.

The one major difference with the FIFA World Cup Trophy is that unlike the Jules Rimet Trophy which was presented to Brazil in 1970 cannot be won outright.  Also today although the original trophy will be presented to the winners of the competition on the day afterwards they receive a replica instead.

The reason for this being is that after Italy won the competition in 2006 following the FIFA World Cup undergoing restoration it became damaged.  A few days after the trophy was presented to the winning side pictures appeared showing a small part of the green malachite had broken off from its base.  Although this damage has been repaired the FIFA decided that they wanted to prevent any such occurrences in the future. 

The replica of the FIFA World Cup Trophy that the winning nation are presented with today is the same size.  However, it weighs considerably less as it isn’t made from solid gold but rather the metal used to create this beautiful trophy is gold plated instead.

The most prestigious and oldest tennis tournament to take place each year is Wimbledon.  This tournament has been held every year since 1877 at the All England Club in the London Suburb of Wimbledon and is included as one of the world’s 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments today.  But the major difference between this tennis tournament is that all matches are played on grass (lawn) rather than clay courts.

Each year the tournament takes place for 2 weeks and normally begins during the latter part (last week) of June or early part (first week) of July.  During this time a wide variety of singles and double matches take place on the various courts including the main one known as Number 1 Court.  As long as the weather remains good then the final of the women’s singles competition will take place on the 2nd Saturday of the tournament followed by the men’s singles competition final taking place the following Sunday.

Anyone who is lucky enough to reach the final of either the men’s, women’s, juniors or doubles tournaments they are presented with a trophy.  But the only ones who will be presented with their trophies on Number 1 Court are the winners and runners up of the men’s and women’s singles tournament.

For the men who become the Singles Champion they are presented with the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy a silver gilt cup with cover.  This is the exact same trophy presented to the first ever winner of this particular tennis tournament back in 1887.  On this trophy is inscribed “The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World”.

As for the trophy itself it stands a total of 18.5 inches in height and measures 7.5 inches in diameter.  The design is very classical and the cup has handles placed on either side and comes with a raised foot.  As for the lit on top is a pineapple.  Then below the handles you will see a head wearing a winged helmet.  Even though each winner of this tournament is presented with the original trophy each year they are not allowed to keep.  Instead the winner of the men’s singles championship is presented with a miniature replica of the trophy measuring 8.5 inches in height and which they are able to keep.

For the woman who wins the women’s singles championship she is presented with a silver salver referred to as the “Rosewater Dish” or “Venus Rosewater Dish”.  The trophy was made back in 1864 by Messrs Elkington And Company Limited based in Birmingham and cost 50 Guineas (£52.50) to be made.  The design is actually a copy of an Electrotype made from Pewter by Caspar Enderlein and the original is housed in the Louvre, Paris.  This particular trophy was first presented in 1886 to the woman who the challenge round which commenced in the same year. 

This salver is made from sterling silver although it has some gilding on it as well and measures 18.75 inches in diameter.  The central boss contains the figure of the Goddess Temperance sat on a chest and holding in her right hand a lamp and her left hand a jug.

Then around this are 4 reserves that contain images of 4 classical gods as well as the elements.  Then there are further reserves around the rim with images of the Goddess Minerva as she presides over the 7 liberal arts, namely music, geometry, dialectic, grammar, astrology, arithmetic and rhetoric and their attributes.  Whilst the rim of this Wimbledon tennis trophy comes with Olvo moulding.  As for the rest of the surface this is covered with gilt renaissance strapwork and foliate motifs which are in relief and have been placed against as rigid silver back.

During the Formula 1 race season each year which begins in March and finishes either in October or November, those that win, come second or third are awarded a trophy.  Plus also the constructor of the car that wins the race is also awarded a trophy.  The decision on what the trophies will look like in each country is left up to where the event is taking place. 

Some of these trophies aren’t what someone who has the honor of standing on top of the podium would want.  Whilst there are others which those are awarded are given pride of place in the driver’s cabinet at home.

There is one trophy however that all drivers who compete in the Formula 1 race season are after and that is the FIA Trophy.  Competition for this trophy has always been fierce but during the last couple of seasons (2007 and 2008) the gap between the winner and runner up was just one point.  In 2007 Kimi Raikkonen was awarded the trophy and then in 2008 the FIA Trophy was placed in to the hands of a young British driver called Lewis Hamilton.

This trophy is one that the driver will retain until commencement of the next seasons Formula 1 races.  After the winner has been announced their name is etched onto it with all the rest that have been honored with holding it.  At the commencement of the new seasons racing the trophy will then be returned to the Formula 1’s governing body.

Many of those who have been winners of this coveted trophy would like to be presented with it at the race at the end of the season.  However, they only get presented with it at a special gala event that all drivers and their teams attend.  This event normally takes place in Monaco and as well as presentation of the winner of the Formula 1events being presented with theirs the winning constructor (team) is presented with theirs.  Other awards are presented at this event also including the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy presented to any up and coming and successful British and Commonwealth drivers. 

Each year this trophy is presented to the driver by a member of Mike Hawthorn’s family who the trophy has been named after.  In 1958 he was the first British F1 Champion but unfortunately the following year was unable to retain it as he died suddenly.

As mentioned above, however, the most coveted trophy that those who participate in Formula 1 are after is the FIA world trophy.  There are many drivers who have won it but only one driver has won it a total of 7 times, and that is Michael Schumacher.  The first time he was presented with this trophy was in 1994 and then again in 1995.  Then the next time he won it was in 2000 followed by 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.  When he won it five times in a row he was driving for Ferrari.

There are many prizes that the elite riders of cycling would like to win.  However, the most coveted of these is the Tour De France Yellow Jersey.  Every year more than 170 riders from across the world will compete in this race that lasts for 23 days and requires them to cycle a total of 2,200 miles (3,500km).  But for a person to be able to compete in this event the team of which they are a member must be invited by the organizers to do so.  Every year the organizers allow around 20 teams consisting of 9 riders to take part in this event.

The tour began in 1903 and during this first competition a total of 60 riders took part and at this time they were only required to cover a total of 1,562.5 miles (2,500km).  But rather than separate stages on each day as today’s race during this one it consisted of just 6 stages.  This meant that there were not many places where the riders could rest to sleep so often they would actually ride through the night to complete the stages. 

The race was brought into being so that “L’Auto” newspaper could market itself to the masses which in turn resulted in increased sales.  The race was such a success that it resulted in the papers main competitor “Le Velo” being destroyed.

Over the next 11 years the race continued to be run, but was suspended during 1914 and 1918 because of the outbreak of the First World War.  However, the race then returned once more in 1919.  It was at this Tour De France that the yellow jersey which would be worn by the leading competitor throughout the race and the end was introduced.  In order to be able to wear the person needed to have the covered the distance in the quickest time possible.  The race was then again suspended during the Second World War (1939-1946).

During the early years of the Tour de France the competition would always begin and finish in Paris.  Yet in recent years we have seen the start of the race not only commence in other towns and cities throughout France but Europe as well.  In 1994 the race began in England whilst in 1996 it began in Southern Ireland.

Like many other sports this is one that has been hit with scandals relating to the use of drugs to help improve a rider’s performance.  At the start of 2007 Tour De France the yellow jersey and the riders Number 1 plate were not in evidence.  This was because the winner of the 1996 event Floyd Landis failed a doping test and was stripped of his title.  However, the title was then presented to Oscar Pereiro.

As well as riders aiming to be the wearer of the coveted yellow jersey during the three weeklong tour there are other cycling trophies which they would like to be awarded.  Some riders are looking to win the white and red polka dot jersey signifying that they are King of the Mountain.  Then there are others who are looking to be wearers of the valued Green Jersey which is awarded to those who gain the most points by finishing the race high up in the standings at the end of each stage.

Along with these jerseys there are a number of other Tour de France trophies (jerseys) that will be awarded and for some are more coveted than the yellow jersey.  Any rider under the age of 25 years competing in this event would like to be the one who wears the white jersey.  Whereas for those more aggressive riders in the competition who aim to forge ahead on certain stages then their aim is to be awarded the jersey known as the “Prix de la Combatitive”.