The trophy, weighing a substantial but manageable 7.5kg, is light enough to be flung around in the type of ecstatic scenes we saw last year with Bayern Munich. It is constructed of sterling silver and is 74 cm tall. Around the base of the cup are 24 carat gold bands, each engraved with a different language: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Czech, Polish, American, Asian (Chinese and Japanese). Each of these languages has two letters, which combine to give a word that means "thank you" in each case. Champions League trophies have been made annually since 1996 by Italian silversmith Bruno Pesce. He originally made replicas of European football trophies, including the UEFA Europa League trophy, but later began adding gold details to his designs. The original cup was a limited edition of only 70 pieces that sold for $150,000 per piece. A second series was released in 2004 featuring white gold as well as 24-carat black gold versions of the trophy. These went on sale at auction rooms across Europe and America and were estimated to sell for between $40,000 and $60,000 per piece. In 2009, another gold-plated trophy was produced for an exhibition in Milan. This one is slightly smaller at 69cm high.