Set With 804 Gems, LA Lakers' Championship Rings Are the Most Elaborate in NBA History

The LA Lakers received their 2020 championship rings — the most elaborate in NBA history — on Tuesday night before their home opener at the Staples Center. Designed by Jason of Beverly Hills with an assist from streetwear designer Don C, each ring glistens with 180 grams of yellow gold and 804 gemstones. It also conveys the narrative of a season like no other.

The gemstones — which include white diamonds, yellow diamonds and purple amethysts — weigh a total of 16.45 carats.

The face of the ring features a prominent Laker "L" logo rimmed in gold and filled with 17 custom-cut amethysts weighing .95 carats. The number 17 represents the number of NBA titles won by the franchise (tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in league history) and the .95 carats represents the 95 days the team spent in the "bubble," the Walt Disney World facilities in Orlando where all the playoff teams competed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The yellow diamonds outlining the "L" filling the basketball of the Lakers' logo weigh exactly 0.52 carats, a nod to the team's 52 regular season wins.

One of the most unique features of the ring is a ball-bearing-enabled removable top that, when opened, reveals a graphic representation for the Staples Center rafters — every one of the franchise's retired jersey numbers superimposed over a black mamba pattern. Among the retired numbers are 8 and 24, the ones worn by Kobe Bryant, the beloved Laker who tragically passed away January 26 in a helicopter accident. Black Mamba was Bryant's nickname.

The shoulder of the ring displays the jersey numbers of every player who suited up for the Lakers during the 2019-2020 season. Each number is spaced by a tiny Larry O’Brien championship trophy.

On one side of the ring is the player's name and number written in raised gold letters. A Black Mamba snake seems to be wrapping itself around the player's number. Also incorporated into the design is the Lakers' playoff slogan, "Leave A Legacy," in LeBron James' own handwriting.

The other side of the ring shows the team's playoff series records against Portland, Houston, Denver and Miami, along with the team's regular season record (52-19), the Larry O’Brien trophy, the year and the NBA symbol tucked into the first zero of 2020.

A unifying theme is the snakeskin-textured background behind the graphics on the right and left sides of the ring.

Credits: Images by Jason of Beverly Hills.

Canada's Remote Gahcho Kué Mine Yields Its Biggest Diamond Ever

A 157.4-carat gem-quality diamond — the largest ever recovered from the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories — was revealed on Thursday by the mine's co-owner, Mountain Province Diamonds. Resembling a frosty cube of ice, the rough gem will be offered for sale during the first quarter of 2021.

While the Gahcho Kué diamond mine sold nearly a million carats in diamonds during the fourth quarter of 2020, the great majority were small in size. Mountain Province Diamonds' president and CEO Stuart Brown said that the extraordinary recovery provided his company and employees with a much-needed injection of good news following a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The recovery of the largest-ever diamond… was certainly a boost to the morale of the company," Brown said in a statement. "It shows that the mine, although a high-volume producer of predominantly smaller diamonds, does produce diamonds of exceptional size and quality."

The Gahcho Kué Mine is a remote fly-in/fly-out location 280km (174 miles) northeast of Yellowknife. De Beers has a 51% stake in the mine. The property consists of several kimberlites that are actively being mined, developed and explored for future development. It is said to be one of the 10 biggest diamond mines in the world.

The 157.4-carat rough gem unearthed at the Gahcho Kué mine is not the largest ever recovered in Canada. That distinction goes to the "552," a diamond named for its carat weight.

The 552 was sourced by Dominion Diamonds at the nearby Diavik mine in 2018 and famously displayed to the public in February of 2019 at Phillips auction house in New York City.

According to the Canadian government, Canada is the world's third-largest diamond producer, by value, behind Botswana and Russia. Canada exported $2.9 billion in diamonds in 2018.

Credits: Gahcho Kué diamond photo courtesy of CNW Group/Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. "552" images by The Jeweler Blog. Map by Google Maps.

Amid Pandemic-Spawned Disruptions, Couples Rely on Technology to Find the Perfect Ring

Faced with the pandemic-spawned life disruptions of 2020, tech-savvy millennials and Gen Zers were quick to adapt to the changing retail landscape by utilizing digital resources in their quest for the perfect engagement ring.

According to The Knot's 2020 Jewelry & Engagement Study, the limited ability to shop in person for engagement jewelry led many proposers to use more online features throughout the research process, such as increasing the amount of time spent researching engagement rings online (33%), connecting with jewelers via social media (11%), or even using virtual tools for online consultations with jewelers (10%).

The study of more than 5,000 newly engaged individuals (who got engaged between April and November 2020) analyzed how couples and their proposals were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. One silver lining of the pandemic is that it offered many couples an additional chance to connect, as quarantine restrictions resulted in the majority of newly engaged couples (68%) spending more time together.

Due to social distancing guidelines and limited in-store appointments, proposers visited fewer retailers in 2020 (on average 2, down from 3 in 2019) and viewed significantly fewer rings (8, down from 15 in 2019) before selecting the one. Overall, the majority (63%) of engagement rings continue to be purchased in person at either a local jeweler (51%) or national retailer (33%). Nearly a third were purchased online.

Uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the state of the economy only slightly impacted how much couples budgeted for their rings. Respondents said they spent an average of $5,500 on an engagement ring in 2020, compared to $5,900 in 2019. Engagement ring shopping in 2020 continued to be a collaborative effort for most couples, as 72% of proposees reported being involved in the selection of their engagement ring.

Here are some other quick takeaways...

• The most popular center stone cuts were round (43%), oval (15%) and princess/square (13%).
• The most popular setting materials were white gold (48%), yellow gold (16%), rose gold (13%) and platinum (13%).
• The average ring's diamond total weight was 1.5 carats and the average center stone weighed 1.3 carats.

Regarding the actual proposals, 83% of proposers said they felt pressure to curate a highly unique proposal in 2020 (up from 75% in 2019), and nearly half of proposers had to pivot original plans as a result of the pandemic, from changing the location (67%) or date (63%) to involving their loved ones (52%).

Many proposers (48%) had to rethink their proposal plans, as the pandemic altered their original proposal location (67%), date (63%) and how the proposal took place (56%). Despite many proposers needing to alter their original proposal plans, the most popular proposal locations in 2020 remained the same as previous years: scenic viewpoints (31%), at their home (23%), at a place with significance to the couple (16%) and during outdoor activities like hiking (15%, up from 12% in 2019).

The study also revealed that newly engaged couples have an increased sense of urgency to kick-start wedding planning: 8 in 10 newly engaged couples have secured an upcoming wedding date, the majority of which will occur in 2021 (73%), and most (66%, up from 57% in 2019) started to plan their future wedding festivities within one month of getting engaged.

Credit: Image via Bigstockphoto.com.