‘A great wee place’: the small Scottish factory crafting Olympic curling stones
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Kays Scotland, a small, family-owned factory in Mauchline, East Ayrshire, is the sole supplier of curling stones for the Winter Olympics. The company, founded in 1851, has been providing stones since the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and every games since curling became a medal sport in 1998. This year, they crafted 132 stones for the competition in Italy. Each stone is made from granite sourced exclusively from Ailsa Craig, a Scottish island, with the body made of common green granite and the running band of blue hone granite. The six-hour process involves shaping, combining the two granites, and polishing, blending traditional craftsmanship with machinery.
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AI-ExtractedThe body of the curling stone is made from a single piece of common green granite.
The family company, founded in 1851, began its association with the inaugural Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924.
This year, 132 stones were crafted in the East Ayrshire town of Mauchline and shipped to northern Italy.
Kays Scotland is the only factory in the world to supply the Winter Olympics with curling stones.
It takes 60m years and about six hours to make a curling stone.
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