From the LA Lakers to the World Series Champs, diamond rings aren’t just for the ladies to flash. Check out championship ring styles guys like Kobe Bryant and A-Rod flaunt for being the best in the biz.
Show-stopping diamond rings are usually the domain of the Liz Taylors and Paris Hiltons of the world. But sports heroes get their fair share of bling to fling when they receive their championship rings after winning big.
Last month, the Los Angeles Lakers were presented with their whopping diamond rings created by celebrity jeweler, Jason of Beverly Hills. The $30,000 jewel is made from 15kt gold to celebrate the team’s 15th championship win and sports 14 diamonds surrounding a center gold trophy.
The New York Yankees will have to wait a few months for their 27th World Series championship rings to arrive, but last year the Phillies got to bring home a bling fest worthy of the title – a 14-karat white gold ring with a whopping 103 diamonds, totaling 3.84 carats.
Unfortunately, some sports stars have resorted to auctioning or pawning off their championship bling due to the failing economy (Lenny Dykstra recently sold his 1986 World Series ring for $56,762.50 at an auction in Dallas), but most stars covet the diamond like it was one of their own children – unless you’re Lakers Coach, Phil Jackson
“I don’t think any of them are wearable…” Jackson said, calling them “too gaudy, too large. You can’t shake hands with anybody.”
We’re sure we could find a few folks who would love to have that problem.
PARIS — A 20-year-old top South Korean model who was a fashion week regular in New York, Milan and Paris has been found hanged in her Paris apartment, a police official said Friday.
Daul Kim was found dead Thursday by her boyfriend, who alerted French police, the official said. He declined to be named in accordance with policy.
Paris police were working under the hypothesis that Kim committed suicide, he said.
Kim’s agent, Alessandra Bertoldini of the Next modeling agency, said the model’s mother was arriving in Paris later Friday. She declined to elaborate.
Raised in Seoul and Singapore, Kim modeled in Asia before making her fashion week debut in Paris in 2007, modeling for top brands like Chanel, Dries van Noten and Maison Martin Margiela, among others, her Seoul agency, Esteem, said. She most recently appeared during Seoul fashion week in October.
Known for her thick mane of hair — sometimes dyed blond — and her quirky sensibility, the 5-foot-10 (178-centimeter) model was celebrated for her sense of style. She was featured recently in a commercial for designer Christopher Kane’s line of clothing for British retailer Topshop.
Kim also was an accomplished painter and video filmmaker who had a solo show of her artwork in Seoul.
Bloggers in South Korea mourned her death, speculating she felt the pressure of high-fashion modeling and a loss of identity.
In an Oct. 30 entry on her blog, Kim wrote she was “mad depressed and overworked,” and in another entry said “the more i gain the more lonely it is … i know i’m like a ghost.”
The last entry on her blog, dated Nov. 18, was titled “say hi to forever” and carried a video of the song “I Go Deep” by British singer Jim Rivers.
South Korea — which has the highest suicide rate among the 30 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — has had a string of high-profile suicides over the past year.
Former President Roh Moo-hyun jumped to his death in May while embroiled in a widening corruption scandal and the ex-chairman of South Korea’s oldest conglomerate killed himself earlier this month. In 2008, top actress Choi Jin-sil committed suicide, following in the footsteps of a fellow actor. A young actress in one of South Korea’s popular soap operas also died by suicide.