Should we call Drake the king of bling? Designed and worn by hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur just days before he was shot dead, the iconic gold, diamond, and ruby ring sold earlier this week for a record $1 million at auction in New York, well above Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of $300,000, making it the most valuable hip-hop artifact ever sold.
For a week everyone was wondering who the buyer was and on Thursday night the Canadian rapper hit up his IG stories to show off the infamous bling while promoting his new song with Travis Scott, “Meltdown.” By Friday morning, Sotheby’s confirmed that the Canadian rapper was the one to purchase the valuable piece of jewelry.
Shakur, whose hits included ‘California Love,’ designed the ring over the course of a few months following his time behind bars before it was assembled by jewelers in New York City, Sotheby’s said.
His godmother Yaasmyn Fula offered the ring for the auction.
When designing the ring, Shakur had been influenced by 16th-century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli’s political manifesto ‘The Prince’ which he read while in prison.
He modeled the design on the crowns of the medieval kings of Europe, Sotheby’s added and engraved ‘Pac & Dada 1996,’ a reference to his girlfriend Kidada Jones.
This isn’t the only piece of jewelry having relevance to Tupac that Drake owns. In July 2020, the rapper commissioned Jason of Beverly Hills, to pull off twin pendants depicting Pac with white and yellow diamond crowns of thorns. The total price for each piece was $300k!!!
Looks like the Canadian rapper is building quite the jewelry collection. Wonder if Rihanna was an influence?
Source: Getty/Sotheby’s
GIOVANNA BATTAGLIA ENGELBERT: The fashion editor never disappoints us on the red carpet. Her oversized crystal embroidered bow earrings by Gucci were our second runner-up for favorite jewelry red carpet look at the The Fashion Awards.
BETTY BACHZ: Betty, the former model turned eye wear designer, dazzled in diamonds from David Morris. The multiple diamond strand necklace she wore is from ‘The Morning Dew’ collection.
KAIA GERBER: We liked that Kaia kept her jewels to a minimum- what with all the embellishment and frills of her Ralph & Russo dress. The young model sparkled in a Mata Hari High Jewelry ear cuff and Glam’Azone pave double ring in white gold from Messika.
RITA ORA: The singer performed at the awards ceremony. She wore champagne colored diamond drop earrings from Lorraine Schwartz to compliment her vintage Versace dress.
HAILEY BALDWIN: Diamonds were Hailey’s best friend on the red carpet. She wore the classic white gold and diamond ‘Juste un Clou’ bracelet and earrings by Cartier.
POPPY DELEVINGNE: The older sister to Cara Delevingne, Poppy favored a lovely black ribbon and Edwardian style diamond choker by Cartier to wear on the red carpet. The stunning and eye catching necklace was accompanied by diamond crisscross stud earrings.
EVA HERZIGOVA: We were so glad that Eva chose to wear her hair up so we could see these stunning earrings by Chopard. It was an interesting jewelry choice to her Versace black mini. 
GEORGIA MAY JAGGER: The model and daughter of Mick Jagger made a bold and daring jewelry choice for the red carpet. She wore custom Matty Bovan babbym earrings. Do these glitter monsters scare you? 
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