Karlsgems

Is it me, or did they do blue Antiquing around the words “Stanley Cup Champions”? If thats what it is, I’ve never seen that before. All in all, a very beautiful and thoughtful design. Especially the ‘Laila’ tribute inside the ring. I love the two-tone gold and the prolific use of sapphires. Very well done, St.Louis!

Awesome stuff, they designed some nice rings. It's nice that they incorporated the CFP trophy in their ring, I think they are the first to do so? (Correct me if I'm wrong.) It'll be interesting to see if others follow suit over the coming years. One curiosity....in the center ring, what are the four ruby-colored football-shaped stones for? Perhaps Saban's four National Titles? Just guessing....what do you all think? Also, I counted 13 football shaped diamonds (including the one at the top of the trophy)....is that their number of National titles? I know they have a lot, but don't know the exact number. As as for the design, I'm glad they did a football/rounded shape inside a standard rectangular ring. I am not a fan of the Ohio State Championship ring or Steelers or Ravens last Super Bowl rings. The rounded shape on the outside of the ring doesn't do it for me. I'm too traditional I guess. Anyways, I like the design because it incorporates some design elements/trends from recent championship rings, but this is their OWN unique design or at least their own interpretation of these designs. In other words, this ring has similarities to other recent rings, but isn't just a straight rip-off of an NFL ring or another schools ring (like Auburn mimicking the Patriots ring or Ohio State copying the Ravens, etc.). Nothing wrong with copying the NFL, it's just that I'm praising Bama for doing their own thing. Original designs are hard to come by. I predict we will soon see other people copying THIS Ring in years ahead. Cool stuff, thanks you guys for posting pics. When I logged in this morning I was hoping to see the Bama rings! Now, let's get some shots of the shanks as well as side by side comparisons with other rings for size perspective! It never ends for us ring junkies!

Brandon, thank you so much for sharing the symbolism of the ring. It's always neat to see what was important to the team that designed a particular championship ring. This is exactly the awesome kind of contributions that this forum is all about. Well done, sir! Karl

That's a nice ring. I really like the two-tone gold. It goes with everything. Lots of symbolism per the Jostens graphic. Classy.

OMG that is horrible. Agreed---- that is NOT happening. Mike you're right, recent trends have been to have the team logo surrounded by trophies (Pats last year are perfect example and even arguably Green Bay in 2010). You can bet it will be big and it will probably even be yellow gold. Beyond that, it's hard to say. You never know how the players feel and what they want, plus are they going to have any imagination or are they going to reconstitute the Patriots design from the year before. Personally, I can't wait to see what they come up with. They have historically designed some nice rings. Their first super bowl ring wasn't their fault, that was just crappy execution by Diamond Cutters. At least they got it straightened out the following year with Jostens! Fingers crossed! Karl.

I love that Niners ring, it's one of my favorites! Also one of the most comfortable championship rings I've ever tried on. The five Lombardi trophies are AWESOME. what a statement they make. im hoping Green Bay can do something Similar on their next ring. As for the Giants ring......yeah, I'm not really a fan of what they did. That Giants ring is one of my all time favorites and the blue stone under the trophy is a huge part of the elegance and impact of the design. It was truly a classic design. The yellow diamonds add nothing. Don't get me wrong, I love yellow diamonds and colored stones in general when it comes to championship rings. But in THIS case....no. It doesn't work for me. I think I know your tastes a little bit...and I'm guessing you agree with me? Thanks for answering my question about Kubiak. I'll check your blog for sure. Karl

I KNEW you had it right! Wow, that's a big ring. Thanks for answering my question. And thanks again for the neat pictures. It's so amazing that you have all those rings. What an accomplishment. And yet, you are still in the hunt for a couple. The pursuit never ends, really, right? nice picture of Kubiak's rings. How did he get a Niners ring in between all those Denver rings? I am ignorant of his personal history, but I'm guessing he got those rings while PLAYING football. So did he leave Denver and then come back? TIA for any light you can shed. Karl.

Gosh, I was all set to totally agree with you (and I think I mostly do). But then I remembered the NFL helps pay for the rings. Granted, the individual team owner often goes above and beyond money-wise, but what if the League ASKED them to incorporate the Super Bowl 50 logo?? You know, it only comes around every 50 years. Just look at what they're doing with the Super Bowl artwork. Remember when each SB had its own distinct logo and artwork? Not anymore. And I'm not saying it's better or even a good thing. Just that that's the way it is now. Okay, go ahead and shoot down my theory now! like i said, ymar, I do mostly agree with you! Karl.

Wow, sweet post. Thanks for putting those all together Mike! One question: It appears that you have the relative size of the rings correct, so my question is whether the Broncos last AFC ring is REALLY that big? It seems outsized, but I know you would represent it correctly because you're into details like that. Anyhoo, just curious! Thanks, Karl

So we should be seeing the Chicago Blackhawks ring pretty soon, right?! Anyone seen that thing yet or know who was commissioned to make it? Probably Jostens like the other ones, but you never know. TIA for any info you all have, Karl

Yeah, you're right. The design is very poor. It might be just that they were not motivated to design a ring due to their disappointment (remember how the Steelers did watches just a few years ago when they lost to the Packers?). Very little thought went into this ring. How did this ring 'feel' to you? Did it feel appropriately heavy? How was the finish? We're the details sloppy? I'm just asking because people are getting awfully good at making copies. You were right to pass on it. Listening to that little voice in that back if your head is usually wise. The jersey not matching up and the paperwork not being right are big red flags. Thanks for sharing your experience, though. Very interesting. Thanks, Karl.

Interesting that the design appears to be just like that of the '69 miracle Mets. By that, I mean the top of the ring (where the words are) is the only part that rises up above the fingers/hand. In other words The shanks are very low. The Mets ring is quite beautiful and massive, but I always felt that that particular design element kept it manageable/wearable. Just my guess, but I think im on target. This is a pretty ring, but I agree with you guys that it smacks of relatives/heirs wanting to cash in on his legacy...probably through an Auction. K

As for the Raiders ring.....I think the ring you pictured is perhaps my favorite Super Bowl ring design commemorating a Third championship. The only other that might be tied in my mind is the 49'ers third SB championship ring with three little Lombardi Trophies in an oval of diamonds. In fact, the Niners ring was the inspiration for my own team's Rose Bowl ring that I helped design...but I digress. No, Al Davis did an excellent job on all his rings. He wanted his players to have a ring worthy of any occasion, such as having lunch with the Queen of England or some such thing, and I think he succeeded. You may not like the Raiders, but they sure made some purdy rings! And for the record, I LIKE the consistency of the Raider designs. I think it's a testament to having one owner who can influence such a thing. Or one family like the Rooneys in Pittsburgh, they also have had nice rings designed over the years (except for the Second one...it was, and is, hideous). While we are talking about Third Super Biwl rings, let me just give a shout-out to the Steelers third Championship where they incorporated their team logo with the design of the ring and the number of championships. Extra credit is awarded in my book. I know they were probably trying to one-up the Cowboys from the year before but still, it's an awesome design. Sincerely, Karl Hi Karl, I never heard the Raiders rings described as designed to be worthy for any occasion. I must agree - that description really sums up the raiders rings. Not too flashy, but very beautiful. They can hang with the bling-rings, but not be embarrassingly over gaudy. I really like that description. I do look at the Steeler rings and scratch my head. In my opinion, unlike the uniform nature of the Raiders rings, none of the Steeler rings match. It's almost like different groups within the Pittsburgh upper management help design each ring separately, or they went out of their way to completely re-do each design. If you line up the first 4 rings from the Steeler's 70s titles, none of them look similar or have a reoccurring theme (the only theme I see is that the first, third and fourth don't have traditional shanks, but have a more modern looking engraving on the sides. The 5th and 6th again, are very different from any ring we had seen before, and finally, their two AFC championships not only resulted in different looking rings, their last appearance in the Super Bowl actually resulted in a watch - not a ring! Yeah, you know ....you're right. The steelers rings were not uniform. I guess Al Davis WAS the only one to do that so consciously. But yeah, that quote about his players being able to have lunch (or dinner ?) with the Queen is for real. Raiders rings are classy. Now that you mention it, those Steelers rings were quite different from one another. You know the only other rings that had SOME consistency were the Forty Niners rings....NONE of them had any color or colored stones. Just diamonds. Oh and they were all yellow gold (how appropriate that they made their recent NFC championship ring white gold!!)Very nice rings, every last one of them. I'm not a Niners fan but I really do like their Championship Rings! Man, it sure is fun to talk rings with someone who cares about them and who can picture in his mind every single ring I'm mentioning without me posting a picture. You are a rare breed and I'm so happy to have found this forum. Everyone in my family thinks I'm nuts. Karl.

Yes, I would like to discuss the design of these rings. They are two of my all time favorites. I am so sorry that the Redskins ring design had to be wasted on an NFC Championship, it was a great design. I really like when teams use color ( ok, specifically, colored gemstones) in their designs ala NY Giants in '86 or even the '82 Redskins with the red base stone topped with the diamond football shape. Also, I think I was nice that the Packers included green in their 2010 Super Bowl ring. As for the Raiders ring.....I think the ring you pictured is perhaps my favorite Super Bowl ring design commemorating a Third championship. The only other that might be tied in my mind is the 49'ers third SB championship ring with three little Lombardi Trophies in an oval of diamonds. In fact, the Niners ring was the inspiration for my own team's Rose Bowl ring that I helped design...but I digress. No, Al Davis did an excellent job on all his rings. He wanted his players to have a ring worthy of any occasion, such as having lunch with the Queen of England or some such thing, and I think he succeeded. You may not like the Raiders, but they sure made some purdy rings! And for the record, I LIKE the consistency of the Raider designs. I think it's a testament to having one owner who can influence such a thing. Or one family like the Rooneys in Pittsburgh, they also have had nice rings designed over the years (except for the Second one...it was, and is, hideous). While we are talking about Third Super Biwl rings, let me just give a shout-out to the Steelers third Championship where they incorporated their team logo with the design of the ring and the number of championships. Extra credit is awarded in my book. I know they were probably trying to one-up the Cowboys from the year before but still, it's an awesome design. And the '77 Cowboys are to be credited for using their star logo for their second SB ring...love it when teams can use the logo not just in the design but also to commemorate the NUMBER of championships. Very cool indeed. I give them credit for being the FIRST to this. Yes, they used their star on their first SB ring, but to use TWO STARS for the second SB championship was the first time anyone did it. So thanks, Mike, for sharing that picture of those two rings. I love them both and I'm grateful you still share your collection with us! Sincerely, Karl