For years I’ve heard the question among skull ring collectors – Who made Keith Richards skull ring?

From what I can tell, the origin of the guitar-players-in-skull-rings thing is Keith. Eric Clapton wears one, Billy Gibbons wears one, Zakk Wylde wears one, James Hetfield wears one. Johnny Depp wears one.

But Keith’s is the original.

Who made it is the easy part. David Courts and Bill Hackett. The hard part though, has been how do I get one like it? For years people have attempted to copy Keith’s ring (or just put jewelry up on eBay saying it was a ‘Keith Richards ring’ without any attempt to make it look authentic).

Finally, David and Bill said – look, we’re getting jacked with this, why don’t we make our own version. After long talks with Keith, they came to agreement.

David and Bill works long and hard to get a version of the ring they could do commercially (since Keith’s was made one-of-a-kind). And shortly, it will become publicly available (any day now as I understand, as soon as final business details get worked out).

But heres the important part; I just heard from David (who’s a lovely human being) that mine shipped last monday. And I can’t be more stoked about it. I’m expecting to get it somewhere around the end of the week. And I’m just vibrating with excitement about it.

[EDIT]

I just got my ring. While David asked me not to share pictures yet, until the new site is up and the ring is shipping (soon, he says, but isn’t giving a hard date), I can say that it’s stunning. It fits like it’s made for me.

It’s no identical to Keith’s own ring (as it should be, since Keith’s was a hand made one-of-a-kind), but it’s teh same in look, feel and spirit. It comes in a bead blasted ‘shadow’ finish (I don’t know if they’ll also offer it in a bright-polished finish), which will gradually grow shiny with daily wear.

It’s a big ring; as big as my Deadringers ‘classic’. Only my Ruby Crush ring is bigger. And it’s heavy; a solid chunk of silver, not hollowed out For all that though, it fits so comfortably I didn’t notice the mass ’til I’d taken it off.

It’s a stunning piece.