Extracted from Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey.

Everyone thinks they know how the Golden Snitch should look. The designers knew they had to get it right.

Though the Golden Snitch would fly digitally, many design studies were done to refine its aerodynamics. In the end, thin ribbed wings, almost in the form of a sail, were attached to a walnut-sized metal ball that combined art nouveau shapes with industrial design.

‘In theory,’ says production designer Stuart Craig, ‘the wings would retract into the grooves on the sphere so that it reverts back to just being a ball.’

The Golden Snitch props themselves were electroformed in copper and then plated with gold.