CCSLC Championship Ring Thread

[BC985]

According to this article, Terry Bradshaw donated his championship rings.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/wac/2006-04-10-bradshaw-donation_x.htm

[ridenlow71]

According to this article, Terry Bradshaw donated his championship rings.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/wac/2006-04-10-bradshaw-donation_x.htm

That's Pretty Cool

[Mac the Knife]

According to this article, Terry Bradshaw donated his championship rings.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/wac/2006-04-10-bradshaw-donation_x.htm

He donated his replacement rings. One of the originals went to his brother, another to his father, and a third to some other relative. Either way or both, he doesn't have 'em.

[dralec]

I have been reading about the Jim Brown's case. No doubt the ring was stolen to begin with. They are smearing Jim Brown to try to cover-up being thieves.

They will end up giving him the ring back or paying him for it as it appears he was content with never having the ring and never asked Brown's to make him another ring.

[Karlsgems]

Plenty of champions don't wear their rings. No shame in that at all. Bradshaw never wears them, nor does Ronnie Lott.

There's reason for that. In Bradshaw's case, he doesn't have any of his four. He gave away his first three to relatives, and lost the fourth in his last divorce settlement. In Lott's case, his hands are so mangled from his playing days (including a digit he had amputated just so he could keep playing) that I doubt any ring would fit properly.

Hey Mac,

Thanks for updating me on those guys. I honestly had no idea about Bradshaw but know that he never wears his rings.

As for Ronmie Lott I have read quotes from him that lead me to believe he wouldn't wear his rings even if he could. He seems quite militant about it. Has pretty much said he doesn't give a :censored: what anyone thinks, doesn't feel the need to prove anything to anyone and is secure internally in the knowledge that he is a four time world champion. So I don't know what to say.

This is quite an interesting forum, the knowledge level seems really high. And I love every bit of it.

Take care,

Karl

[Karlsgems]

Hey Karl I hear you loud and clear man! Agree with everything you said.

At least Gruden has a better matching watch tonight. He may have read your comments on this site after all! Lol

Hahaha! Thanks for saying so, man. Glad we're on the same page!

Gonna be a great football season, I think. Looking forward to it.

Glad I found people like you to talk to about these rings I love so much.

Karl

[Karlsgems]

What qualifies as a good watch, curious. I have a black wedding band.

Oh hey, bro, where you referring to what I was saying response to dralec?

If so, the answer varies quite a bit. I was purposefully vague because 'decent' can mean many things. For John Gruden, it would mean getting a watch that matches the clothes he wears ( in this case, the suits he wears on broadcasts). And because he is a person of means, it would probably be something a little more expensive than the rest of us might get.

It's not about price really, just that he needs to decide white metal vs. yellow ( his Super Bowl ring is yellow gold). And I would suggest maybe an athletic-looking watch that can match both formal and informal dress, perhaps a divers watch (i.e. Omega Seamaster Professional or Rolex Submariner or a Tag Heuer).

He could go the other way and wear more of a dress watch, but given that he's broadcasting football, and hanging around players and locker rooms, a more durable watch would make sense.

Also, I think he could get away with wearing a stainless steel watch with his yellow gold ring with very little problem. Many people do this these days, myself included. I wear a stainless watch but have a yellow gold wedding ring. In fact, all my rings are yellow gold now that I think about it. For many years people wore two tone watches, but I don't think guys have to do that anymore ( unless you WANT to of course!).

You said you have a black wedding band ? Stick with stainless steel or white gold. But it's really up to you. You would do well also if you had a watch with a black strap of some sort (rubber, leather, ceramic or whatever). It just depends on how you dress....more formally or less formally.

Ok, just realized how much I'm rambling so I'll cut it off now. Hope that helps, tubby34!

Sincerely,

Karl

[dralec]

I was wondering who has the most SB appearance, which would make most SB and conference championship rings combined?

My research showed Dan Reeves with 9 SB appearance but he ended up with only 2 SB rings and 7 Conference championship rings.

He went to 2 SB as a player with Cowboys, 3 SB as assistant coach with Cowboys and 4 SB as head coach with Denver and Atlanta. Sadly for him he lost all 4 SB appearances as head coach, 3 with Denver in 4 years and of course lost with Falcons in 1998 to of all teams Denver! (Cant make this stuff up).

I think next is Bill Belichick. He has been to 8 SB, 2 as assistant with Giants, 1 as assistant with Pats and 5 more as head coach of Pats.

As a Patriots fan I am very optimistic he will win another SB ring this year.

Reeves is no longer in coaching, he does Westwood One radio broadcasting NFL games. I have seen him wearing a ring, but don't know which one it would be. I am assuming its tough to pick which ring out of 9 to wear. On one hand I would want to wear a SB ring but its hard since he did not win it as a head coach and I think most people remember him as a head coach of Denver coaching Elway. What dilemma to have in life? Only Karl and I would think of such stuff! Lol

[sports-rings.com]

I was wondering who has the most SB appearance, which would make most SB and conference championship rings combined?

My research showed Dan Reeves with 9 SB appearance but he ended up with only 2 SB rings and 7 Conference championship rings.

He went to 2 SB as a player with Cowboys, 3 SB as assistant coach with Cowboys and 4 SB as head coach with Denver and Atlanta. Sadly for him he lost all 4 SB appearances as head coach, 3 with Denver in 4 years and of course lost with Falcons in 1998 to of all teams Denver! (Cant make this stuff up).

I think next is Bill Belichick. He has been to 8 SB, 2 as assistant with Giants, 1 as assistant with Pats and 5 more as head coach of Pats.

As a Patriots fan I am very optimistic he will win another SB ring this year.

Reeves is no longer in coaching, he does Westwood One radio broadcasting NFL games. I have seen him wearing a ring, but don't know which one it would be. I am assuming its tough to pick which ring out of 9 to wear. On one hand I would want to wear a SB ring but its hard since he did not win it as a head coach and I think most people remember him as a head coach of Denver coaching Elway. What dilemma to have in life? Only Karl and I would think of such stuff! Lol

Dralec - wow, that's great research!

You don't hear a lot about Reeves anymore and I had no idea he had so many super bowl rings (I guess few involved in media, count the 3 rings he was awarded as a Cowboys assistant coach.) I'm always looking for new content for my blog so off I go to the bank safe and will take pictures of all of his rings for a future blog story.

Looks like Reeves last super bowl appearance was with Atlanta in Super Bowl XXXIII. That means that at that time, Dan Reeves was involved, at some level, in 27 percent of the super bowls! That's a better than 1 in 4 percentage!

[dralec]

That is great Mike. I look forward to seeing the article with all the rings.

27% of all SB's! Wow that is really impressive, specially since it was with 3 different teams!

Like I said, I am sure Bill Belichick will surpass him. Patriots and TB12 will make it to at least 2 more Super Bowl's in the next 4 years.

[dralec]

Here is a website that has all championship rings from 4 major pro sports.

I don't know if it is posted here or not before but its worth checking it out.

http://www.ringsthatbling.com/

[Karlsgems]

What dilemma to have in life? Only Karl and I would think of such stuff! Lol

Hahaha!!!! You and I are one the same page, THATS for sure!! Thanks for thinking of me!

[dralec]

Wow Mike what a great collection of NYY rings!

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Do you know what is the story with this White Gold or Platinum NYY ring with blue top stone that is knows as "team of century ring"?

The one on the middle finger of DJ on this picture.

[sports-rings.com]

Wow Mike what a great collection of NYY rings!

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Do you know what is the story with this White Gold or Platinum NYY ring with blue top stone that is knows as "team of century ring"?

The one on the middle finger of DJ on this picture.

There have been one or two platinum "Team of the Century" sold by the major auction houses (perhaps it was the same ring) .

I don't believe the ring was a real team-issued or team licensed ring, but I could be wrong.

I believe the ring shown on Jeter's middle finger is a championship ring from his time in the minors, but I could be wrong. The Team of the Century ring is similar in style to the 1998 ring - kind of more round than the 1996 and 1998 rings.

Two rings I may take pictures of and do a story on, were issued by Balfour: the Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio career tribute rings. Both rings have diamonds on top of the ring in the shape of their respective uniform numbers.

I also have a Yogi Berra career ring that's marked "LGB" but I am not sure it is a real ring that was issued by Balfour.

By the way, the Yankees, Steiner, and/or Balfour should do a Jeter tribute ring, in similar style to the Mantle and DiMaggio rings.

[Karlsgems]

PS: JOSTEN SEW is patented Silver Elite precious metal created by jostens. Unlike regular silver which turns black after a while, SEW does not do so. Turning black is the major factors most ring companies never could produce cheaper silver rings as opposed to gold rings. They had to settle for cheaper none precious metals such as Lustrium. Miami Heat has 6 different class of rings for their 2013 rings. Somewhere between players 14 K gold and the bottom none precious metal Staff II rings they produced SEW rings which were mostly the ones ordered by players for their extra championship rings, avoiding high cost of 10K and 14K gold rings.

Don't kid yourself, that BCS ring is Lustrium. They can call it whatever they want, but that's what it is. They used to even refer to it in their brochures as a 'jewelers-grade stainless steel'. And that's not far from the truth. Nothing wrong with it, In fact it's quite durable. My Green Bay Packers shareholders ring is made of this and I find that I really like it. It's lighter than gold, which is kinda nice for a ring this size. My other championship rings are 10k yellow gold and very heavy.

But its NOT actual silver. Sterling Silver is very soft and would not be a good choice for the wear and tear that comes with such a big ring. Also, from a jewelers standpoint, setting diamonds in silver is not desirable (or easy). At one store I worked at we carried a line of silver jewelry that had diamonds set in it, but let me tell you...those stones were channel-set and drill-set (literally a hole was drilled and the stone set in the hole with metal worked over the edges of the stone to hold it ). The way diamonds and CZ's are set in championship rings, Sterling silver would not be a good choice.

Just my .02

Karl

[FiddySicks]

PS: JOSTEN SEW is patented Silver Elite precious metal created by jostens. Unlike regular silver which turns black after a while, SEW does not do so. Turning black is the major factors most ring companies never could produce cheaper silver rings as opposed to gold rings. They had to settle for cheaper none precious metals such as Lustrium. Miami Heat has 6 different class of rings for their 2013 rings. Somewhere between players 14 K gold and the bottom none precious metal Staff II rings they produced SEW rings which were mostly the ones ordered by players for their extra championship rings, avoiding high cost of 10K and 14K gold rings.

Don't kid yourself, that BCS ring is Lustrium. They can call it whatever they want, but that's what it is. They used to even refer to it in their brochures as a 'jewelers-grade stainless steel'. And that's not far from the truth. Nothing wrong with it, In fact it's quite durable. My Green Bay Packers shareholders ring is made of this and I find that I really like it. It's lighter than gold, which is kinda nice for a ring this size. My other championship rings are 10k yellow gold and very heavy.

But its NOT actual silver. Sterling Silver is very soft and would not be a good choice for the wear and tear that comes with such a big ring. Also, from a jewelers standpoint, setting diamonds in silver is not desirable (or easy). At one store I worked at we carried a line of silver jewelry that had diamonds set in it, but let me tell you...those stones were channel-set and drill-set (literally a hole was drilled and the stone set in the hole with metal worked over the edges of the stone to hold it ). The way diamonds and CZ's are set in championship rings, Sterling silver would not be a good choice.

Just my .02

Karl

I've always thought that silver was a strange metal to make a ring out of anyway. If I was a pro athlete, I'd be really disappointed to get a silver ring because not only does gold look better IMO, it's be pretty much unwearable for me because I'm pretty severely allergic to silver. I've never heard of people having allergic reactions to gold.

[dralec]

Hey Karl, I agree with the Silver issue, that is why after years Jostens was able to come up with their own metal to use in rings. This is from Jostens website:

Lustrium® - A non-precious metal alloy that is silver in color; it is a hard and durable metal.

Silver Elite® - A precious metal alloy primarily composed of silver with elements of palladium and gold, coated with a rhodium plating.

Rhodium Plating - A member of the Platinum metals group. Rhodium is a silvery, metallic colored precious metal. It is an extremely hard material and is highly resistant to corrosion and it is used extensively in the fine jewelry industry. Rhodium provides protection for Silver Elite®, coating it to help prevent tarnish and scratches. It is very durable and prevents skin oil from dulling the ring. Rhodium is most commonly plated on white gold and sterling silver jewelry.

Jostens had exclusive BSC championship rings with NCAA. One of the issues was they agreed to provide precious metals instead of the none precious Lustrium. So BCS rings are Silver Elite -SEW.

[dralec]

This is a 1977 Dodgers NL Championship ring. Any one has any idea why there are clouds and an airplane on the ring?

Also the other shank is cool too, with name engraved in the pennant.

[Karlsgems]

Hey Karl, I agree with the Silver issue, that is why after years Jostens was able to come up with their own metal to use in rings. This is from Jostens website:

Lustrium® - A non-precious metal alloy that is silver in color; it is a hard and durable metal.

Silver Elite® - A precious metal alloy primarily composed of silver with elements of palladium and gold, coated with a rhodium plating.

Rhodium Plating - A member of the Platinum metals group. Rhodium is a silvery, metallic colored precious metal. It is an extremely hard material and is highly resistant to corrosion and it is used extensively in the fine jewelry industry. Rhodium provides protection for Silver Elite®, coating it to help prevent tarnish and scratches. It is very durable and prevents skin oil from dulling the ring. Rhodium is most commonly plated on white gold and sterling silver jewelry.

Jostens had exclusive BSC championship rings with NCAA. One of the issues was they agreed to provide precious metals instead of the none precious Lustrium. So BCS rings are Silver Elite -SEW.

Wow, thanks for the clarification on that. I am VERY curious what 'elements' of palladium and gold means. How much of each? Clearly not enough gold to be called Karat gold. Palladium is one of the platinum metals and probably added for strength, also it's MUCH cheaper than platinum.

Otherwise, yes, Rhodium is prevalent in fine jewelry. It is literally 'whiter' than silver and is one of the six Platinum metals. Ironically, they even plate Platinum with rhodium more often than not. Sometimes 18k white gold jewelry is not plated, but it just depends.

Not that I doubt you for a nanosecond, but why would the BCS rings need to have precious metal in them? Was that really in the contract? I ask because, as you may already know, there are NCAA rules regarding the dollar- value of gifts for student athletes.

That's why most bowl rings are not gold even though no one does yellow gold anymore ( white gold is even more expensive, so that's not being used either). Even in 1994 it was somewhat unusual that we (UCLA) got Pac10 championship rings in 10k yellow gold. Just two years later, USC got PAC 10 rings and they were made of yellow metal not actually gold. And believe me, it's not because USC couldn't afford yellow gold. It's the NCAA rules for sure.

Thanks for furthering the discussion!

Karl

p.s. Upon re-reading my post I remembered that silver is not expensive, so it could theoretically be used in NCAA jewelry. But then you get back to the question....is it really "precious"? Sterling Silver must be at least 92% pure. So, if it's mixed with gold and palladium....how does that affect it's status as 'silver' ? That's why I said I was curious how MUCH gold and palladium is in those rings!

[sports-rings.com]

Any one has any idea why there are clouds and an airplane on the ring?

Also the other shank is cool too, with name engraved in the pennant.

The dogers have a rich history of owning airplanes before other teams did.

And, they were the first team to own their own jet plane (a Boeing 720B). Here is a link to their rich history of aircraft:

http://www.thinkbluela.com/index.php/2014/01/05/the-flight-of-the-dodgers/

Regarding the name in the Pennant, the Dodgers have a tradition of making cool personalized rings part of their championship ring heritage.

The coolest thing is way back in 1955, their only Brooklyn Dodger world championship ring had each players own signature, in blue, on the sweet spot of a baseball, on the shank.

They did this again in 1959 on their championship rings.