Project Vote- Metals

[Kwadruple]

What kind of metal do we want the award to be made of?

**Don't worry too much about coatings at this point. Vote for the metal on the outside. (Ex: If you want to vote for a silver base with a platinum coating, vote for platinum.)

[maryada]

Can't vote yet-- I'm confused----I didn't know silver for the outside was in the running I thought it was 1.platinum 2.platinum with a silver base---or 3.gold (with platinum coating?) I didn't think we were considering silver as the metal?? ---So has just platinum been ruled out at this point?

[Kwadruple]

No, maryada, it hasn't been ruled out, just vote for the type of material on the outside, and i think cost will determine whether or not we have to coat the medals.

[Sk8Fan]

I definitely think platinum (silver base, platinum coating to keep costs down probably). I think it should say somewhere on the medal or clearly with the card that it's platinum so that she doesn't think it's a silver medal.

I posted this on the other thread but things tend to get lost - I vote against a gold medal because sports.ru reports that a group of Irina's Russian fans are having a gold medal made for her, and we want Michelle's medal to be different and special.

[Terri]

Whoever we get to design the medal will include some sort of certification of what the medal is made of which we can include with the medal box. Also, when we present it I'm sure that we'll make clear in the speech that we wanted to give Michelle a gold medal but we thought that she was a little more precious than gold so we decided to give her platinum instead. :)

It looks like platinum is the direction that we're heading in.

[Shallah]

because this medal is not to be a consolation prize or replacement but a symbol of our esteem showing that we value Michelle more than gold :-)

[Sharon]

ITA Shallah :) !

[Pattern99]

Yes, definitely no way should it be a consolation prize!!! After 1994, a British newspapers had a gold medal minted for Torvill & Dean and presented it to them - according to Jayne Torvill it really cheered them up and meant more to them than getting the real gold at Lillehammer would have meant! Because that really was daylight robbery, licensed banditry, whatever!

[justsk8]

I definitely agree that we should go with the platimum because of the whole beyond the gold thing. Also, if we do gold we're just showing how obsessed we are with the Olympic gold, which is not what we are after here at all. :)

[LatinoDude02]

hey Splits :)
i totally agree.....
platinum is the best i think

[Raquellina]

Okay - work with me here....

I have been reading this thread for hours, I think.....

Anyway, I was wondering if it is possible to have a crystal medallion (maybe 3" or so) that is etched on the front with the symbols (I liked the Phoenix symbollism - especially the one about joy and grace). Through the crystal, you could see a swirl of bronze, silver, and gold....the entire back and sides of the medallion would be plated in platinum. A diamond would be embedded on the front (as part of the phoenix characters, maybe).

The meanings -

The crystal itself would represent the world stage (ice skating) that brought Michelle to glory.

The Phoenix would represent her joy, grace, and determination.

The bronze, silver, and gold would represent ALL the medals and awards she has received.

The diamond would represent the brilliance of her eyes as they smile, and the resilience of her will.

The platinum would represent that she stands far above the crowd, no matter what the measuring stick.

The back could be engraved with any of the many wonderful suggestions. The ribbons to hold the medal should be fine, and pure, and simple.

Anyway....just a thought.....

[LatinoDude02]

wow Raquellina-
that sounds absolutely breathtaking! so beautiful and elegant and refined and _____ (insert adjective here)!!!
now, can we find a jeweler who can bring these images and ideas into reality???

[JinGXionG]

I agree its GREAT!!

JinGXionG

[Forever Loyal]

Raquelinna, I love this idea. I think it would be great to have it framed or some way that Michelle can display it at her home. So she will look upon it and always know how much we love and adore her. I don't like the idea of something that will get put into a box.

[Forever Loyal]

EVERYONE, please look at the idea suggested by Raquellina. I think that is the way we should go!

[barbnf]

Folks ... Michelle is authentic through and through ... I vote for pure platinum regardless of price ... MKFs are innumerable and I am sure we can raise the necessary funds and then some ... in fact, later I will make a proposal for an enduring fund ... more later ... I just ponder before I decide anything so ... later

[BBMakster]

Wow, Raquellina, that sounds absolutely perfect!! :)

April

[skatingfan5]

There have been many great ideas suggested for the design of the "medal" for Michelle. While this thread is to vote for what metal to use, there have been other suggestions for the design. Isn't this something that we were going to be deciding on later? I don't think that voting for "platinum" means that we couldn't later choose a design that incorporated something additional (gold, for example, or crystal, as suggested by several people). I thought that people with art/design/craft talents would be submitting designs (maybe to Heather or someone else) and that there would then be a similar poll to choose the final design, maybe also voting for whatever inscription to be included as well (especially if that were part of the design element).

About pure platinum -- it would be very expensive if we were talking about a medal that's approx. 3" in diameter -- at least $10,000 by the going rate. I wouldn't be comfortable spending that much money on a medal -- especially since even the Olympic medals are only gold-plated. After all, we don't want Michelle to have to keep it in a bank safe deposit box! If we could do something really nice that was platinum-plated for $2000 -- then we would have $8000 to donate to the Children's Miracle Network (assuming we raised the $10,000). I would much prefer that -- and I think that Michelle probably would too. Plus I think I read on the original post that pure platinum was too soft a metal to use for embossing a design. I know that 24K gold is quite soft, which is why it is rarely used for jewelry (most is 14K or 18K).

[kyla]

Platinum (probably over silver due to cost unless we end up with a ton of money).

[youngatheart]

Raquellina, I'm just speechless. What a beautiful concept.

[star lily01]

Definitely platinum! Isn't the entire point to tell her she is more precious to her fans than gold! ;)

Annette :)

[bagelpuss]

Here's one vote for the crystal/platinum idea!

[skatingfan5]

I think the symbolism expressed in Raquellina's concept is very nice, but I'm not sure it would be very easy (or even possible) to execute, because it seems to call for several competing techniques. Etching a design on a crystal medallion would certainly not be difficult. However, I'm not sure how the swirl of bronze silver and gold would be done -- is this to be added to the back of the crystal, before it is plated? Secondly, I'm not sure it is even possible to plate platinum onto crystal. I've been doing some research on this, but haven't been able to speak to anyone directly. I know that it is possible to plate just about any type of metal or conductive surface, but not non-conductive surfaces like wood, plastics, leather, or stone. I think that glass has low-conductivity -- but I could be wrong. Even if it is possible to plate the crystal, the plating is typically a very, very thin layer over the surface of the underlying material (in this case, glass). It may not be possible to do any engraving on such a thin surface. So if it isn't possible to plate the platinum onto the crystal or if this thin plating couldn't be engraved with an inscription, then the back and sides would have to be constructed out of either solid platinum or platinum-plated silver, just like setting for a very large jewel, which would call for a custom jeweler, not a mint. So while the symbolism of the various materials is lovely -- I'm not sure if it could readily be executed. Someone with more expertise on the various materials proposed and craftmanship needed to execute the final medal could better address these questions/concerns. I think that rather than just describing thing in words, we'll have a better idea of some of these design concepts when we see them actually rendered. And of course, it will definitely help to know what is even possible.

[barbnf]

Sounds beautiful and full of symbolism ... nice job, Raquellina ... very fine job ....

[ChinkYeeBoy]

I vote for Raquellina's idea. It sounds absoulutely wonderful, full of meaning.

But like the other poster said, I'm not sure how possible it is!

BUT if it is...it sounds awesome!

Mike

[MagicMe]

I love your idea!

[Kwadruple]

I think Raqellina's idea is beautiful, however ITA with skatingfan5. This calls for some serious experts in many fields, and I'm not sure how possible it is to create a swirling effect with different metals. If anyone has any information about how feasible this is, please share. This might be a little more than we can handle.

[Tarynn@Elissa'smom]

Platinum is incredibly expensive. What about white gold?

[FanBud]

Please see the thread by FanBud on Medal design.

[FanBud]

Sorry to be a spoiler but I also work in glass (and ceramics) and combining these metals with glass makes the technical problems even more insurmoutable. However, I like the concept very much. The colors can be done in glass. In other words, the whole piece could be done in glass (no metal) and could be quite beautiful. Thanks for the idea. Perhaps some of it will work. I will also talk to a friend about a glass (only) piece similar to what you describe.

[belladella]

I go with the idea of a 3" platinum medallion, beautifully mounted in a presentation case.