On Track - Spring 2020 Edition

12 MAKING OF THE COX PLATE A TROPHY LIKE NO OTHER IN WORLD RACING The W.S. Cox Plate is celebrating a significant milestone with the 100th running of the race on October 24, and that called for a special edition of the Cox Plate trophy to be struck by the Club’s maker of the iconic piece of silverware since 1995. The specially-made Ladbrokes Cox Plate 100 Trophy is manufactured by Renown Silverware from their warehouse in Northcote in Melbourne and features a 9ct Solid Yellow Gold Plate, including 9ct Yellow Gold feet with 9ct White Gold Rosemount edges and emblems. It has a total gold weight of approximately 1.6 kilograms and is valued at $200,000. We caught up with Renown Silverware owner John Hawke and his son Darren to find out more. What were your first thoughts when you heard the Club was keen to make a gold version of the Plate? Darren: I was blown away as I was expecting the request to be for 950 Sterling Silver and then Gold Plated. Immediately after the heart rate decreased, we jumped into planning mode to work out how to achieve the outstanding result that was required. Were there any challenges during the making of the Plate? Darren: As can happen with materials that we have never pressed before, there were many challenges involved in manufacturing a solid gold Cox Plate. We called on expert advice from Metallurgists, Gold and Silversmiths, Gold Refineries in Europe, and also our highly experienced staff. The pressure is always high on the day of the initial pressing/forming of the Plate as this is when if anything can go wrong, it will. We pressed three or four in brass to check the alignment and pressure on the dies, which were all successful. The gold was placed in the press, and the buttons were pressed to put the machine into motion and BANG!!! Our faces were in shock. The dies released, and a broken gold Cox Plate was removed from the press. Replacement gold had to be ordered from Europe, and discussions began with the refinery over the hardness of the gold and inconsistencies in the overall sheet temper. Six weeks later, when the gold arrived, we double-checked to find the gold had similar inconsistencies to the previous piece. We knew that what we needed was a piece of gold consistently soft enough over the whole surface to press the Cox Plate successfully. Nobody could assist us as there wasn’t a Vacuum Furnace in the jewellery industry in Australia big enough to accommodate the gold disc, and the Industrial Vacuum Furnace Companies didn’t give me any confidence that they could give the gold the delicate care it required. Not willing to gamble on another failure in the press and with timing pressure to deliver in time for the big reveal on Cox Plate Day last year, we met with a retired Albanian Goldsmith who explained how they had annealed gold sheet “in the old days”. This advice, as with every other piece of advice we had received, came with a disclaimer “be very careful and good luck”. To cut a long story short, on the Wednesday of Cox Plate week, we delivered the most beautiful Cox Plate Renown Silverware has ever produced. The making of the 100th W.S. Cox Plate trophy