Championship Ring Fever

From the LA Lakers to the World Series Champs, diamond rings aren't just for the ladies to flash. Check out championship ring styles guys like Kobe Bryant and A-Rod flaunt for being the best in the biz.

Show-stopping diamond rings are usually the domain of the Liz Taylors and Paris Hiltons of the world. But sports heroes get their fair share of bling to fling when they receive their championship rings after winning big.

Last month, the Los Angeles Lakers were presented with their whopping diamond rings created by celebrity jeweler, Jason of Beverly Hills. The $30,000 jewel is made from 15kt gold to celebrate the team's 15^th championship win and sports 14 diamonds surrounding a center gold trophy.

The New York Yankees will have to wait a few months for their 27th World Series championship rings to arrive, but last year the Phillies got to bring home a bling fest worthy of the title - a 14-karat white gold ring with a whopping 103 diamonds, totaling 3.84 carats.

Unfortunately, some sports stars have resorted to auctioning or pawning off their championship bling due to the failing economy (Lenny Dykstra recently sold his 1986 World Series ring for $56,762.50 at an auction in Dallas), but most stars covet the diamond like it was one of their own children - unless you're Lakers Coach, Phil Jackson

"I don't think any of them are wearable..." Jackson said, calling them "too gaudy, too large. You can't shake hands with anybody."

We're sure we could find a few folks who would love to have that problem.

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Diamond Christmas Ornament Breaks Records

The most expensive Christmas ornament in the world makes a glittering debut. It's never too early to deck the halls with diamonds.

Santa, hold on to your floppy red hat. Diamonds and rubies are often found 'under' the tree, but one British jeweler completed his quest to put them 'on' the tree like never before.

Mark Hussey of Hallmark Jewelers had a vision about making the most expensive Christmas tree ornament in the world and after a year of trying came up with what record keepers say is the most expensive pine tree candy ever made.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the blingy bauble is made of 18kt white gold with over 500 diamonds orbited by two rings made of 188 rubies; it took over 130 hours just to set all the gems in the piece. The National Association of Goldsmiths independently valued the diamond decoration at a whopping $130,000.

As one could imagine, security is now ramped up at the family-friendly jewelry store with the ornament safely encased in a special container with an alarm that triggers smoke to fill the shop when tripped.

Santa? Meet James Bond.

If visions of diamonds dance in your head this time of year (and $130,000 is a 'little' more than your budget allows), check out our treasure trove of diamond jewelry from all the retailers you trust. Make those wish lists sparkle with savings and style this year.

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Sotheby's Jewelry Sale Brings in Millions

Colored diamonds in green, blue and yellow brought in the big bucks at auction this week in Geneva - but 19^th century rubies stole the show.

Sotheby's "Magnificent Jewels" sale held at the Hotel Beau Rivage in Geneva on Tuesday, brought in staggering prices on some of the world's most beautiful jewels and gems.

Among the appropriately named, 'magnificent jewels' were three colored diamonds that would bring any mortal to their knees:

The largest vivid-green diamond ever to appear at auction (2.52 carats) sold for a record $3.08 million; a 3.17-carat fancy-intense blue diamond sold for $2.52 million; and a huge vivid-yellow diamond ring sold for a mere $3.13 million.

But the big money went towards a suite of rubies called the Roxburghe Rubies, a necklace/earring combination dating back to the late 19^th century. The final price? An auction-topping $5.77 million - five times higher than the estimate.

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Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards

In the lull between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day we were able to look back at the past year. At the beginning of 2006 when we were in San Francisco, we agreed to buckle in for a ride together. In the following twelve months Etsy grew from 1,400 to 140,000 members, and the company doubled in size (from 4 to 8 …

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What's Going On

We're all working full tilt right now. Chris, Haim and Simon are sifting through the code, diagnosing problems and remedying them. Jared's in Singapore and Seoul presenting Etsy at a couple conferences and working from his hotel room. Jay is collating bug reports and working on the HTML for some new …

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The Etsy Labs

Hello friends, Let me start of by apologizing for all the confusion flying around in the forums. It can get totally wacky in there and sometimes it's hard to know what to believe. Let's set the record straight.Etsy LabsA couple of months ago, Etsy leased its first ever commercial space in Brooklyn, NY. Being the …

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Up With Upcycling

And the weiner -- er, winner -- is...Wiener Bench by JackRabbit. We were impressed by JackRabbit's ingenuity and dumpster diving. She scavenged discarded and broken furniture from the curb on trash night where she lives in Philadelphia. She also posted on Craigslist and collected sweaters headed for the …

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