VIDEO SHOWS: SILVERSMITHS WORKING ON NORMAN BROOKES AND DAPHNE AKHURST TROPHIES / SOUNDBITES FROM SILVERSMITHS / SILVER BEING MELTED AND PROCESSED AT REFINERY / FINISHED SUITE OF TROPHIES SHOTLIST ONLY, COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW SHOWS: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 20, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF SILVERSMITH, BRAD SULLIVAN, TORCHING THE NORMAN BROOKES TROPHY 2. SULLIVAN LOOKING AT TROPHY 3. TEAM WORKING ON TROPHIES AT W.J. SANDERS WORKSHOP SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 4. VARIOUS OF W.J. SANDERS GENERAL MANAGER, DARREN MAY, PICKING UP PARTS OF THE NORMAN BROOKES TROPHY 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) W.J. SANDERS GENERAL MANAGER, DARREN MAY, SAYING: "Sure you can mass produce, but mass production, it takes the life out of the object. The detail's not there. That human hand cannot be reproduced by machine. And that's why when we look at pieces that were made centuries ago, they're still awe-inspiring today. And so we're proud of the fact that we do everything by hand and we will continue to do that." SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 20, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 6. VARIOUS OF SULLIVAN TORCHING TROPHY SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) W.J. SANDERS GENERAL MANAGER, DARREN MAY, SAYING: “The skills that go into the making of those trophies are often overlooked, and it's important to understand that every skill that is used in the making of these trophies is an endangered skill, alright? And that is how we are classed currently in Australia. So the individuals that work on this are specialists in their own right." SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 20, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 8. SULLIVAN WORKING ON NORMAN BROOKES TROPHY (LEFT) AND W.J. SANDERS PRODUCTION MANAGER, PAUL SMITH (RIGHT), WORKING ON DAPHNE AKHURST TROPHY 9. VARIOUS OF SMITH POLISHING DAPHNE AKHURST TROPHY 10. DAPHNE AKHURST CONCEPT DRAWING ABOVE SMITH SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) W.J. SANDERS PRODUCTION MANAGER, PAUL SMITH, SAYING: "So it's an honour to work on the Tennis Open trophies. The Daphne Akhurst is quite an iconic trophy, it's quite simple in its design, which means you've got to be quite accurate in the way that you make it, everything needs to be quite balanced, everything needs to be quite level, so it's not technically an easy trophy to make from that point of view." 12. VARIOUS OF SMITH POLISHING DAPHNE AKHURST TROPHY 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) W.J. SANDERS PRODUCTION MANAGER, PAUL SMITH, SAYING: “Okay so it's always a challenge working on these kinds of trophies. I think the fact that they're kind of out there for everyone to see, means that you've got to do your best to make them, quality wise. There's also a degree of jeopardy involved in kind of working with precious metals and fire and things like that, which is an added challenge but kind of adds to the thrill of what we're doing, I guess." SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (DECEMBER 12, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 14. SILVER GOING THROUGH GRANULATION PROCESS, AT SAME FACILITY WHERE THE SILVER IS MELTED FOR THE TROPHIES 15. VARIOUS OF SILVER GRANULES FALLING OFF CONVEYOR BELT 16. VARIOUS OF FIRE ON MACHINE 17. SILVER BEING POURED OUT OF MACHINE SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) W.J. SANDERS GENERAL MANAGER, DARREN MAY, SAYING: “Yeah the players come in at the start of the tournament, they make their way through their rounds. And if they're fortunate, they make their way to the finals. And the way we produce the Australian Open trophies is similar as far as timeline, obviously none of our craftspeople fail a round and never progress onto the next stage. But, when we get to that final men's and women's and doubles finals, and they hold that trophy up, we all remember the time it took us to create those trophies, and the craftsmanship that went into them." SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (DECEMBER 12, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 19. W.J. SANDERS GENERAL MANAGER, DARREN MAY, OPENING DAPHNE AKHURST CASE, REVEALING THE TROPHY 20. VARIOUS OF THE FINISHED DAPHNE AKHURST TROPHY 21. MAY OPENING NORMAN BROOKES CASE, REVEALING THE TROPHY 22. VARIOUS OF THE FINISHED NORMAN BROOKES TROPHY 23. VARIOUS OF NORMAN BROOKES AND DAPHNE AKHURST TROPHIES NEXT TO EACH OTHER 24. VARIOUS OF THE 'MAJOR' SUITES OF TROPHIES - NORMAN BROOKES, DAPHNE AKHURST, MEN'S DOUBLES, WOMEN'S DOUBLES AND MIXED DOUBLES STORY: Tucked away in the backstreets of Sydney, a team of 10 craft a suite of coveted trophies that many tennis players spend their careers training to obtain. Of the 150 trophies being smithed at the W.J. Sanders workshop for the 2026 Australian Open, the most famous are the Norman Brookes and the Daphne Akhurst trophy, the prize awaiting the men’s and women’s single champions. For General Manager Darren May and his team, work on the trophies began before the 2025 edition of the Grand Slam and will conclude when the fruits of their labour are handed out to title winners on Rod Laver Arena early next year. "When we get to that final, men's and women's and doubles final, and they hold that trophy up, we all remember the time it took us to create those trophies and the craftsmanship that went into it," May told Reuters in November. That great attention to detail is the hallmark of a great tennis tournament will come as no surprise to silversmith Paul Smith, who is responsible for crafting the trophy taken home from the Australian Open by the women's singles champion. While the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup that has been awarded to the winner of the women's singles since 1934 stays in Australia, Sydney-based smithery W.J. Sanders produces an exact replica that leaves Melbourne with the champion. "It's not technically an easy trophy to make," Smith told Reuters, "It's quite simple in its design, which means you've got to be quite accurate." The 'major' trophies - the men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles - are all handmade with roughly 18 kilogrammes of silver and have a value of at least A$860,000 ($573,534.00). The skill set required to make these trophies by hand is dying out and it is officially considered an "endangered craft" on Britain's Heritage Crafts Red List. May, though, would not craft the trophies any other way. "Sure, you can mass produce, but mass production, it takes the life out of the object," he said, "that human hand, cannot be reproduced by a machine." Jannik Sinner held aloft the Norman Brookes trophy earlier this year, while Aryna Sabalenka was the recipient of the Daphne Akhurst. They will both be back in Melbourne from January 18 to February 1 looking to add another Australian Open title, and another piece of W.J. Sanders' craftsmanship, to their trophy cabinets. (Production: Cordelia Hsu) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
