Update: We created an infographic to break it down visually…The Evolution of the Super Bowl Ring

As the names of the teams who have held the championship have changed throughout the years, so have the rings that the champions have worn. We at Cash for Gold USA are, of course, intimately interested in gold and rings – and our curiosity lead us to study the evolution of the famed Super Bowl ring.

After winning Super Bowl I in 1966, the Green Bay Packers were presented with a 10-karat gold ring featuring a 1-carat diamond inset. One side of this historic ring has the Lombardi coat of arms, while the other sports a pattern derived from an AFL and NFL logo combination. The ring itself weighs in at 1.26 ounces.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ ring from Super Bowl X is square in shape and features the Lombardi trophy made from palladium, set between two diamonds. The ring also weighs in at 1.26 ounces and features celebratory designs for America’s bicentennial on the side of it – after all, Super Bowl X was in 1976!

Almost a decade later in 1985, the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl ring was set with forty diamonds, including a half-carat diamond in the center surrounded by 13 smaller diamonds making the the shape of the Chicago “C.” The 1985 set of rings also has the distinction of having the largest ring manufactured in Super Bowl history, made for William “The Refrigerator” Perry. It’s a whopping size 23 – and considering the average ring size for a man is 10, that’s one big ring!

They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and the Cowboys proved that with their Super Bowl XXVII ring. At the time, it boasted the most diamonds ever in a Super Bowl ring with 55. The ring featured the Cowboys’ star surrounded by diamonds, the Super Bowl logo, and the name and position of each player or coach.

The heaviest ring in Super Bowl history was made for the Super Bowl XXXIX champion New England Patriots. This ring was cast in 14-karat gold and featured 124 diamonds weighing a total of 4.94-carats.

The history of Super Bowl rings is far too large and varied to go into in one single blog post, unfortunately. But when it comes to the cold hard cash, here’s the scoop: the NFL pays about $5,000 per ring for 150 rings, $75,000 total. As the rings always cost more than $5,000 apiece, typically the jewelry maker absorbs the rest of the cost, as it’s considered an incredible honor to be chosen to make the rings for the big game.