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
Let’s look at her ring game, shall we? Stephen Webster’s Magnipheasant diamond open wing ring in 18K gold was paired with two Jenny Dee Jewelry rings (Merope ring & Asterope ring) and our favorite – a Moritz Glik Kaleidoscope shaker ring which added a fun and colorful element to Swift’s BBMA jewelry red carpet look.
CARDI B: Cardi B had the most spectacular earrings of the night. The rapper wore Loree Rodkin’s XLarge Michelle in 18K White Gold Diamond Earrings Open Shield earrings valued at over $26,215!!
Picking up the Billboard award for Best Rap Song Cardi wore House of Emmanuele’s Estelle Rose earrings.
Topping off her spectacular night with receiving Billboard’s Top Artist award Cardi rounded out her third and final jewelry look with a delightful pair of Jared Lehr earrings.
KELLY CLARKSON: As host of the show, Kelly wore geometric crystal earrings from Saint Laurent and a dynamite diamond ring from Yeprem
During the show Kelly wore white diamond rings and a gorgeous pair of statement black diamond long dagger earrings surrounded by white diamonds all from Dena Kemp.
SOFIA CARSON: A vision in lavender the Pretty Little Liars The Perfectionists star sparkled in rock crystal and star Moonlight earrings from H. Stern 
SABRINA CARPENTER: Sabrina kept her jewels simple and wore Katkim’s Arena diamond ear cuff valued at $2400. 
PAULA ABDUL: Does Paula ever age? The 56-year-old performer walked the BBMA red carpet wearing diamond hoop earrings from Norman Silverman.
PRIYANKA CHOPRA: Seems Priyanka only had eyes for Nick but we had our eyes on her Tiffany diamonds! The stunning actress wore three gorgeous and sparkling Tiffany & Co. necklaces worth $231,000 including the brand’s Circlet necklace, Hardwear ball necklace in diamonds and Victoria graduated line necklace. She topped off her look with the jeweler’s diamond studded hoop earrings and matching pave bracelet from the brand’s T collection.
JENNIFER HUDSON: Presenting Mariah with Billboard’s Icon Award JHud dazzled in diamond earrings from Stefere Jewelry.
HALSEY: Before her most anticipated performance of the night with super group BTS, Halsey hit the red carpet in a series of black spinel and black diamond jewels from Stephen Webster.
DRAKE: Breaking the record for the most BBM awards ever Drake did a sweet tribute to his mom by wearing her name on a necklace created by Ben Baller.
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