The making of the Beijing Olympic medals in jade
19 of 19 images in this article were not preserved by the Internet Archive and are marked below.
As well known to all of you, the backside of the Beijing Olympic Medals is made in white jade from Geermu (Qinghai) for the gold medal, greyish jade from Qiemo (Xinjiang) for the silver medal and green jade from Xinjiang for the bronze medal.
In the following pictures you will be seeing some of their manufacturing steps!
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The ancient master for the Beijing Olympic Medal
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Cutting the raw jade
Image not preservedThe jade workshops
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Cutting out the jade rings with a CNC milling machineImage not preserved
The finaly sizing of the outside diameter of the jade ring
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Inspection and smooting the edgesImage not preserved
Do you see the translucency?Image not preserved
A ring for a champion!Image not preserved
The masters in plaster of the metal part of the medalImage not preserved
The metal blanks for the bronze medal
Image not preservedThe medal stamping die press
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The wings of victory
Image not preservedThe engraving and machining of the medal holderImage not preserved
Inspecting the machined medal holder
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Assembling the bronze medal with the green jade ring
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The metal part of the gold, silver and bronze medals ready for assembly
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The medals ready for the Olympic Champions.
Images courtesy of www.beijing2008.cn
Reader Comments (1)
You will recall that we first saw the Olympic medals on this site when I posted the front and back views of three designs more than a year ago. Now you can see the results on TV several times a day. If you want to see how the medals were made you can see them clearly on the new post from our Chinese connection, Herbert Giess. Enjoy them.
Fred Ward, Friends of Jade
August 10, 2008 | Fred Ward, Friends of Jade