Oscar statuette
Making
The gold statuette the winners receive are
made a year in advance by Chicago-based
manufacturer R.S. Owens.
An oscar statuette making begins on mold.
The mold is cast using a combination of tin, copper and antimony that’s the highest grade of pewter available.
Once cast, the statuette is sanded down
and polished until there are no flaws then
it’s electroplated with four different
finishes: copper, nickel, silver and a heavy
layer of 24-carat gold.
Once the plating is completed, the Oscar
figure is screwed onto its metal base. Each
statuette also is numbered. The academy
began numbering statuettes in 1949,
starting with No. 501.
It takes about a week-and-a-half to create each statuette and each 13-and-a-half-inch, 8-and-a-half-pound statuette costs $18,000.