The Toronto Raptors NBA Championship ring belonging to Kyle Lowry is shown on Tuesday October 22, 2019.
After winning a historic NBA Championship last June, the Toronto Raptors opened the new season by slipping on some serious bling Tuesday night — crafted by a local ring company.
Baron Championship Rings executives and staff watched the players don the rings for the first time, unveiling the months-in-the-making secret design.
“It was a blur,” Baron president Peter Kanis said Wednesday. “It was amazing. It’s been a couple months of hard work and secrecy, and preparing for this moment it was surreal.”
The first-ever NBA Championship ring for a Canadian team sets its own records with its “one-of-a-kind,” eye-catching design.
The monstrous ring is the most valuable championship ring ever made and features a 1.25-carat diamond, the largest single diamond in any professional sports ring. The piece also marks the biggest ring for the NBA — which Kanis said was necessary due to the intricate details, elements and symbolism included in the design.
The Toronto Raptors’ NBA Championship rings were created and made by Tecumseh’s Baron Championship Rings. The rings were presented to the team Tuesday.
The Toronto skyline adorned with diamonds, the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Trophy and the team’s Scotiabank Arena homecourt are displayed in the colossal jewelry piece. The centre details a chevron with the word “North,” and the jerseys the team wore during the championships.
There are 74 diamonds filling in the area to mark the team’s 74 wins during the season and playoffs, 16 rubies between the jersey numbers of the 16 players, and six diamonds for Toronto’s “The 6ix” nickname. One side of the ring features the individual player’s name and number with “World Champions 2019″ above the Raptors logo on the other. The ring showcases more than 650 diamonds amounting to 14 carats — the most of any championship ring.
Typically, a championship ring will have the team logo at the top with the story points along the side but Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry — who Kandis said was instrumental in designing the ring — wanted to see a nod to the country, city and players up top.
“The challenge was how do we make this look good and classy without being too busy and I think we did a great job — they picked us,” he said.
Kyle Lowry’s NBA Championship ring is shown in Toronto, Ont. on Tuesday October 22, 2019.
Kanis said the bidding process for these rings involves creating a preliminary design based on information from the season by watching the playoffs and championship games and then submitting the development and design to the organization. Following the initial submission, it’s a back and forth with the organization’s ring committee to finalize the design.
“You present the final design to the committee along with typically a player representative and in this case it was Kyle Lowry who had a very big say in the ring. And we ultimately won — it was unanimous from what we heard,” Kanis said.
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The company has created championship rings for the Cleaveland Cavaliers for their 2016 NBA championship, WNBA champions the Los Angeles Sparks, Toronto FC, as well as for the OUA, NCAA, OHL, Memorial Cup and Windsor Express.
Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors receives his Championship ring prior to the first half of an NBA game against New Orleans Pelicans at Scotiabank Arena on October 22, 2019 in Toronto.
Kanis said watching the players receive their rings and reveal the design was an amazing experience.
“We knew Kyle was the only one who saw the ring originally so this was a secret for everybody,” he said. “To see everyone’s expression and their excitement, it was just icing on the cake for us.”
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October 24, 2019 at 07:52AM
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