Academy Award statues have been made in Chicago in the United States, in the factory of RS Owens & Company for the past 30 years. Every year the factory produces around 50 of the 3.9-kilogram (8.5-pound) figurines, designed to resemble a Crusader holding a downward-pointing sword.
The original Oscar statues were gold-plated solid bronze, but modern Oscars are cast from a metal alloy called britannium, then coated with 24-carat gold.
The process takes ten days from start to finish, although the final touch – a gold plate etched with the winner’s name – isn’t added until after the awards ceremony itself.