The Making of the Iconic Trophy

“The Italian Job” follows the journey from Greece to Genoa, where the original Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards trophies were created under the direction of Raoul Bollani, an accredited gem expert and partner in his family’s precious-stones business, Bollani Jewellery.

Bollani transformed the awards logo into a three-dimensional trophy, using white Carrara marble for its sail-like upper section and rare blue Azul Macaubas marble from Brazil for the base. Its silvered-brass frontispiece was enamelled in two shades of blue to depict a ship’s hull, a wave and bands evoking the Greek flag.

The film, first shown at the 2013 awards dinner, reveals the precision cutting, hand-enamelling, polishing and assembly behind each trophy. Transporting the finished awards from Italy to Greece every year was not always straightforward, however, and occasionally left the Athens team anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Since 2019, the trophies have been crafted in Greece. Their design remains essentially unchanged, but white marble from Thassos is now used for the upper section and blue marble from Kavala for the base.

The location where the marble trophies are made and engraved with the winners’ names is being kept a closely guarded secret.