Super­bowl Rings

What­ever could the title above be talk­ing about? For those who are watch­ing the game just for the gua­camole, tacos, and faji­tas, or want some­thing to do until Down­ton Abbey airs later tonight — and I fall some­where within these two camps, today is Super­bowl XLVI — the Giants vs. the Patri­ots. Being a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, my cheers are for the Giants, how­ever my inter­est in the game is more about the bling the win­ning team designs and sports after the Gatorade dries on the play­ing field. The NFL pays up to $5,000 per ring, after that, the owner has to pony up the rest of the funds. Some rings, as well as a few own­ers, are more, um, mod­est, while oth­ers take the craft of ring build­ing and gem set­ting to whole dif­fer­ent level. A few of the rings are intri­cate and well designed, while oth­ers chal­lenge the con­cept of good taste. Let’s also keep in mind that this is the kind of jew­elry worn by strap­ping foot­ball play­ers, not ele­gant polo play­ers on horse­back, so the rings have to exude win­ning team mus­cle. Ring man­u­fac­tur­ing com­pa­nies vie for the priv­i­lege to cre­ate these keep­sakes and three of the best known are Jostens, Herff Jones, and Bal­four Company.

While doing research a few years on cham­pi­onship rings, I came across fas­ci­nat­ing facts about these not-so-tiny tro­phies. Did you know that there are cham­pi­onship ring col­lec­tors who will only pur­chase their favorite team’s rings, or that oth­ers will seek out rings from win­ning teams with an unusual story, a mem­ory of being at the game, or dark horse pro­jec­tion for win­ning? The rings can be very valu­able, and have been appraised com­monly from twenty to forty-five thou­sand dol­lars. Many play­ers will not sell their rings, but there are those whose careers have taken a seri­ous down­turn — and a few of these sto­ries are tragic — forc­ing them to part with a valu­able tro­phy they worked to earn. Some play­ers have the cost and the design of their rings stip­u­lated in their con­tract. Super­bowl rings are not only given to the play­ers, but also to many who work for the team’s orga­ni­za­tion. Since this year’s Super­bowl such a huge game for fans, the rings made for this cham­pi­onship game will be rare and costly, if they ever do come onto the sec­ondary mar­ket. The design will be revealed in few months time, and whichever com­pany gets the con­tract to man­u­fac­ture them will be this year’s cham­pi­onship ring cham­pion. How­ever, I’ll only report on this if the Giants win. Only kidding.

Maybe — go Giants!