CrazyPig, one of the coolest and oldest of the skull ring makers, now has an online store.

I would happily buy almost everything on that page, and that’s just the rings.

Hell. There goes what’s left of my paycheck.

My hand it up on the DeadRingers web site, along with some other fantastic new pictures (Love the gold skulls).

They’ve also got some new items on the site, and some sketches of upcoming pieces (Want that celtic cross – nice!)

As usual, fabulous designs and incredibly creativity. These guys are awesome.

One of my readers, crazy old uncle joe (one of those madmen who types all in caps so you always feel like he’s SHOUTING EVERYTHING AT MAXIMUM VOLUME) just sent me a pic of his fabulous brand new Tony Creed DestinyMan skull ring (Click for a close-up):

That’s one sweet ring, Joe. Wear it well. Tony rocks, doesn’t he?

I was just showing off my ring – which has taken on a battered and abused look like a good skull ring should – to an old friend I ran into in my local sushi bar. Man, I’d like to have another of Tony’s creations, one of these days when I get my budget under control (*cough*never*cough*)!

Ok. Fine. I give in.

Lust wins out every time with me. Which should not come as a great crashing surprise to anyone.

I have a ring on order from Deadringer. Mark and Steve, the main men behind Deadringer, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

They don’t have a pic of exactly what I’m getting up on their site yet, but it’s basically a combination of the two rings pictured below. The ring itself is the classic skull (the one on the left), but with the ‘shadow finish’ from the super-high-end armageddon (The one on the right).

These rings are made custom, so the lead time was quoted at about two weeks for production, plus whatever it takes for shipping. These guys are way the fuck down in New Zealand, so this will have the distinction of being the best-traveled of my skull rings, at least until I myself get south of the equator again. My other two rings are made in the USA.

The thing I love about this particular ring is that it’s the most realistic skull ring I’ve ever seen, beating out even my clapton skull from Serious Silver. Steve Gillespie, the jeweler behind Deadringer, clearly sat down with a real skull, or at least an anatomically correct replica, and made a ring that re-created the shape almost exactly. I don’t think you’re ever going to find a better, more exact, real skull ring than this.

It’s wholly different animal than your classic rock ‘n roll skull ring, of which my favorite in the universe is the one made by my friend Tony Creed – my Elvis Lives skull. That’s a creature of rock n’ roll and horror comics, bikers and pirates, a thing born of artistic imagination.

The rock n’ roll skull ring has a vast range – most of it ugly, much of it stupid. The standouts though, Creed’s work and Crazy Pig, some of Bill Wall’s work, are a distillation of a Motorhead/biker aesthetic.

Different things. Different ends of an artistic spectrum. I love them both, the realistic skull and the rock ‘n roll skull. And I can’t wait to see this Deadringer piece.

Anyone read japanese?

I Want This.