Karlsgems

You know, you don't have to accept what they give you. Back in 1997 I was working in the Athletic Department at UCLA. Though my playing days were done, I still had close friends on the football team. When the rings arrived from Jostens for our PAC Ten Championship and Cotton Bowl victory they were FAR from what was ordered. Turns out, The coaches secretly told Jostens to make them smaller (most coaches don't like the big rings, and to be fair, most coaches are not as big as their players) which was bad enough, but the design was off too. Oh, and they weren't even gold! So, having been part of the ring design process on the ring committee back in 1994, I told them to send the rings back and have them remade. Having strong player leadership, they forced the issue with the coaches, and ultimately the rings were completely remade. This time they looked like what had been designed on paper (which was somewhat copied from the '94 ring, so the players KNEW what it SHOULD look like) and the rings were remade in 10k yellow gold. They were beautiful. I even saw one for sale in the last year or so. Sometime, when I dust off my photobucket account and can post pictures, I will try to show you the difference. It was striking. It's difficult to design a ring, and there is some inherent uncertainty in taking an idea/design on paper and turning it into reality. But you do have a say, as a client of the ring company. They want to keep people happy after all, as well as get repeat business. I guess this is just my way of saying that...If I owned the Denver Broncos, I would have sent those rings back! Hope I didn't bend your ear too much with my story! Take care, Karl

I don't know if Diamond Cutters International is still in business, but their Denver Broncos Super Bowl XXXII ring was incredibly awful. I can never tell if I am looking at a picture of a real one or a cheap fake, because the shanks are an absolute disaster. I thought they did a nice job on the top of the ring, but there is no excuse for the horrible work done on the sides. The following season when the Broncos repeated, they went with Jostens and the shanks were substantially improved. Oh yes, that ring was horrible. After all those years of waiting for their first SB win and THAT was the ring they got? I woulda asked for a refund. Like you said, they went with Jostens the next year. I totally forgot that was their handiwork. Thanks for the reminder. Weren't the sides of the Cowboys rings also really crappy? Seems like a trend by that company. Still wonder if they're in business. Probably not. A lot of companies have gone under in this economy. Actually, I just remembered.....isn't Jostens trying to buy Balfour? I think there's a review process happening right now to decide if that deal will be allowed to go forward. In fact, I think someone on this forum posted a link to an article about it awhile ago.........

Does anyone know if Diamond Cutters International is still in business?? They are out of Texas and I thought they did the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup rings in '99 and also the Cowboys fifth Super Bowl rings. I thought also they did one of the Detroit Redwings cup rings? Anyways, that's one company OTHER than Balfour and Jostens who seemed to make a dent on the market. I met the president of that company once at a function and he seemed rally great. It was hard not t ask him for a job making championship rings, hahaha! Dralec, I think Jostens also bought out Lennox Awards in Illinois and so now can claims the Raiders Super Bowl rings as their own even though they had NOTHING to do with designing or making them! Jostens has made enough Super Bowl rings that they don't have to fake it like that, they don't have to apologize or take a backseat to anyone when it comes to SB rings. But whatever. Guess I'm not cut out for marketing! It'll be REAL interesting to see what the Seahawks come up with..... K

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?page=Mag15playforkeeps "Bowden doesn't bother to wear his 1993 championship ring. He doesn't want his players to think he's satisfied. He doesn't wear any of his ACC title rings either, or the stash of bowl rings and watches he has hidden away in a dresser drawer. Those are for his 21 grandchildren. He wears only a ring given to him by Burt Reynolds, who was once an FSU running back." I'm pretty sure this is the ring... Yup, that's the one. Thanks so much for posting that. What a nice story about Coach Bowden and the program, even if it was from a few years ago. I did NOT know Burt Reynolds gave him that ring. That's awesome! Thanks again, Survival79! Sincerely, Karl

Question for the group: in the collective knowledge of all you fellow ring junkies, does anyone know why Bobby Bowden never wore any of his actual championship rings ? He always wore that one same ring with a red stone In The middle surrounded by diamonds? I thought I read somewhere that he had that ring made up early in his career before FSU became a national power so that he would have bling to match other coaches that went into the homes of recruits. But I'm not sure.......any of you know about that? TIA, Karl

Hilarious! That movie LOOKS good in the trailers, glad to hear a firsthand account that is positive. I don't get out to see many movies these days but maybe I'll try to go see it. I will keep a close eye on that ring to see if I concur with you which ring it is. I know I don't have to tell you that they make up fake championship rings a lot : on Damon Wayans in The Last Boy scout, rings for North Dallas Forty, and for The Program with James Caan. I was pleased to see they at least used a correct copy of The Dolphins AFC championship ring in Ace Ventura with Jim Carey. But I digress.....

Hey Sports-rings, thanks for the correction on that Rangers ring! I was close, but no cigar.

That's a great thought. You're probably right. Keep one of each for posterity....

Uhhhh......wtf? Never seen that before. Is that picture a hoax by any chance? Has he been getting on of those every year or did Boston just give him one as a gift for some reason??? That is really weird. I know POTUS usually gets rings, but not the commissioner..... Weird.

The people in this thread clearly know a lot about these special rings. If we can only come up with these handful of examples, then I think tributes on the outsides of rings are still fairly rare. Inside the shank, however, is a different story. Sports-rings is right! there have been many a ring with INSIDE engraving. One of the first I remember seeing was inside the 1994 Rangers Stanley Cup rings where they memorialized breaking the 'curse' or drought since their last Cup championship. It had a circle with the year in it and a line going through it. Can't remember the year right now....1943? Maybe? Anyways that was one of the first engravings I remember inside a shank.

Aw heck, I totally forgot about Chick! And I live in the LA area and have even had that ring on my finger!! Crap. Great catch, on that one. Totally right you are!

And that, in a word, was awesome. Truly a classy thing to do. But you have to admit, this is a newer trend. Really not common in years past, no?

Dralec, I LOVE that picture!! I've seen it around and just love it. Thanks for posting it. And no, the rings for players do NOT have diamonds and are RARELY ever made of gold any longer. The NCAA has rules about how much can be spent on rings and as you can guess...IT AINT MUCH! Now, for some programs the companies will make a ring a little nicer and make the rings at a loss to get the account ( higher profile programs ). But even then, they have to be careful. No diamonds for sure. Funny story.....back in 1985 at Oklahoma, Barry Switzer had real diamonds put in the National Championship rings for his senior class and told the NCAA to pound sand because they were seniors and had no eligibility left. Needless to say, that went over like a fart in church! But it was a cool thing to do. Somehow, my 1993 PAC Ten championship/Rose Bowl ring got made out of 10k yellow gold, but I don't know how we slipped that one past the NCAA. Gold was cheap back then, but still...... But it had cz's and not diamonds, for sure. I know because I made sure I got on the ring-design comittee! Cheers, Karl.

Welcome back, Kotter! In a word....No. I cannot remember another ring with a tribute to the deceased. The Pats ring was the first I can recall. Some scoffed at it, but I thought it was a nice touch. Mr.Kraft is one of the most highly regarded owners and seems like a classy guy, so I think it was not cheesy or something weird. It was truly a tribute. Oh, and I'm NOT a Pats fan, so no bias here just my observation from a distance. That being said....the only other ring with a tribute on it (for someone still living, tho) would be the Nebraska National Championship ring in 1997. There's even a ' picture ' of Tom Osborne on the side. Very nice touch from a classy program. My only complaint with that ring is that is was the smallest of the three rings in the nineties. And yet, it celebrated a third title in four years!!! Ironically, I have found that most coaches prefer smaller rings and I'm betting they made this one smaller so Coach Osboorne could realistically wear it sometimes. Just a guess, tho. Karl

Hahahaha!!!! Very funny! So true, tho. Oh, and thanks for the repost on the LSU ring...this ones much clearer. Sincerely, Karl

Absolutely awesome national championship ring, even better than the '99 ring! Wow. Thanks for posting those!!

Can someone refresh my memory....What championship did Iowa win this year? Maybe they won their bowl game......oh wait, never mind. Hey Brandon, what is that logo in your avatar? Just curious...... It's the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets Class-A) cap logo. My initials are BC and I've always liked the logo. That's cool. I've never heard of that team, but how neat that it's your initials!

Those are nice! And no, it's not your bias. The Cardinals really do create some nice rings. I'm not even a baseball fan, but I like the Cardinal rings of recent years. Ok, I even liked the 1982 WS ring even though it would be considered very 'vanilla' by today's standards! My favorite Cardinal ring is 2006 with the letters 'stl' inside the baseball diamond, also I like the yellow gold used in that ring. Hey Brandon, what is that logo in your avatar? Just curious......

Hey, where is Sports-rings.com? Is he out there buying yet another nugget of bling to blow our collective minds? Weird to have a whole page of posts(page 63) and no comment from Mike! Where you at, bro??...... Probably buying a Red Sox ring as I write this! Karl

Wow, the engraving inside shanks is getting SO detailed! That's pretty awesome on the Ortiz ring. As far as the MVP ring, if the club had it made for the player that is awesome. Otherwise I really could live without it. An award like other sports would suffice ( I say this as a ring FANATIC) because this is getting to the point of too many rings. Look at these ridiculous "division champions" we are starting to see (ASU being the latest). Now, having said that, MVP of the World Series probably does deserve a very special award, just maybe not a separate ring apart from the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RING the player is already getting. Didn't someone here mention maybe engraving something on the players individual WS ring.? That would be cool. I don't know. I love the discussion here though. People who appreciate these creations and who also follow their history past and present makes for a really satisfying experience. There are so FEW people I can talk to about this stuff! Sincerely, Karl

Dralec, you get all the best pictures! Thanks for posting those up. Also want to thank you who posted Red Sox rings and those MVP/batting rings. Hadn't seen those before. Very cool. This is really an awesome forum! Karl

Sports Rings, Nice writeup on the Pittsburgh/Cincy ring relationship. Just wanted to say how shocked I was that the Bengals ring in '88 was LARGER than the 49'ers World Championship ring. I remember seeing them side by side in a Jostens display case at the Minneapolis airport in the summer of '89 ( I think it was 89). The other thing I distinctly remember from that case is a replica of William "Refrigerator" Perry's Super Bowl ring...it was astoundingly large. I didn't know fingers could get that big! I wonder if they still display their work there in the airport? Anyone in this group know offhand ? I haven't been back to Minnesota in a long time. ..... Karl.

That is WAY too much ring for a division title. They basically won nothing, including that bowl game! Ridiculous. I've noticed some of the division title rings out of the SEC and I feel the same way about them ( even if it IS a tough conference). Ditto the Big-12 runners up! People are too damn desperate for a ring. They're watering down what it means to WIN SOMETHING. OK, getting off the soapbox now..... Just my .02

Very nice NDSU rings. The newest one looks appropriately large for a third consecutive title. Anyone seen the Michigan State Rose Bowl rings yet? Just curious......

Wow, great answer! I forgot that. The NFL was presenting championsip rings back in the 50's so I wonder why the Packers choose watches? I believe the NFL was pooling their money back then so It can't be that Green Bay was a small market. Any thoughts why this occured? I can't recall the specifics right now, but it was a choice on their part (the players, that is). They had just gotten rings the year before, so I think there was an appetite for something 'different'. Ironically there was a ring for sale some tIme back with the year 1962 on it, but it's the 1965 ring with the wrong date. I want to say it was made for the team photographer or something but I can't remember why the date is wrong....I'll have to look up the backstory on that too. I'm out of town right now and don't have all my links saved on my iPad. So when I get home I'll check on those and get back to you. Frankly, I will send you the link because I think you would enjoy it also. I just don't have it with me and I can't quite remember the address. Maybe Ridenlow can help us fill in the gaps? I'm sure he knows some of this stuff too...... K.