The Evolution of MLB World Series Rings Over the Years: Bigger and More Bling
The playoffs for the MLB World Series 2023 are underway — and the winning team will walk away with bold championship rings.
The first game of the best-of-seven MLB World Series 2023 took place between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, on Friday. By Saturday, a winner will be decided.
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While this is the Rangers’ chance to take home its first championship rings, manager Bruce Bochy has three, from 2010, 2012 and 2014. The Diamondbacks have won the World Series once, in 2001.
The winning team will be able to design custom rings to be granted at the start of the 2024 season. The commemorative rings are typically set in gold and made by class ring companies Jostens or Balfour, or luxury jewelry company Tiffany & Co.
Through the years, championship rings have become bigger and bling-ier. Early rings were more simple, featuring small stones, while modern rings are larger, with more diamonds. Below, WWD walks through MLB championship rings through the years.
1922 New York Giants Ring
The New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) created the inaugural MLB championship ring in 1922 when the team cinched the win against its local rival, the Yankees, at the 19th World Series. Produced by Dieges & Clust, it was a simple round gold ring with “Giants World’s Champions 1922,” along with baseball bats and a scroll, etched around the sides. A small diamond rested in the center of a baseball field design.
It wasn’t until the Yankees won in 1927 that another World Series championship ring was produced. In the 1930s, it was finally set in stone that winning teams received a championship ring. An etched gold ring with a single diamond or precious stone atop it was the norm until 1977, when the Yankees opted for its NY logo to be blinged out in 19 diamonds.
1977 New York Yankees Ring
The 1977 ring, designed by Balfour, featured deep etching, like a stamp, reading “Yankees World Champions” along the top circle. The trophy, year and other words, including the players’ last names, were engraved on the sides. The Yankees won again the following year, and added even more diamonds, including a large diamond in the center set in a blue stone, surrounded by 21 smaller diamonds. In 1979, the Pirates took notes from the 1977 Yankees ring, and chose a diamond-encrusted P as its centerpiece, in a ring made by Jostens.
1997 Miami Marlins Ring
Through the ’80s and ’90s, championship rings often centered around diamond logos, with accent diamonds. But in 1997, the Miami Marlins upped the glitz with a fully diamond-filled centerpiece with an F and fish logo, surrounded by even more diamonds, of varying sizes.
1999 New York Yankees Ring
The Yankees followed suit in 1999 with a large diamond NY, fully surrounded by even more diamonds. From here, the rings got bigger and glitzier — Yogi Berra even referred to them as “weapons.” As the rings grew, it became common practice to design two or three versions, with less-expensive rings given to the staff.
In 2002, Jostens helped the Anaheim Angels create a sparkler, complete with a ruby and diamond logo surrounded by more diamonds.
2003 Miami Marlins Ring
The following year, the Miami Marlins made one of the most expensive World Series championship rings ever. It took notes from the Angels’ ruby and diamond dazzler and its own 1997 design, going even bigger and brighter. It holds a whopping 229 diamonds — 22 of which are part of a diamond fish — and 13 rubies, to create the baseball stripes. The white gold ring was designed by Jostens and cost $20,000 at the time (adjusted for inflation, that would be about $33,455 in 2023).
2012 San Francisco Giants Ring
For the San Francisco Giants’ second World Series win, the team opted for opulence, once again partnering with Tiffany & Co. for design. The white gold ring features 52 round diamonds and logo on its glittering face, and seven more on each side, to represent the Giants’ seven championship victories. One side features the iconic SF cable car atop a baseball with the year and player’s last name.
2020 Los Angeles Dodgers Ring
Rings just kept getting larger, and in 2015, the Los Angeles Dodgers designed a ring with its logo formed by 17 custom-cut sapphires set atop a diamond-encrusted baseball diamond, with 16 more diamonds along the base path, and four larger princess-cut stones at the bases. The interior of the field has 29 diamonds, representing the number of home runs the team hit that victorious post-season. More sapphires and diamonds cover the face, and the sides feature diamonds that spell out 2020 and the player’s number.
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