EXCLUSIVE: Liberty Ring Jeweler Talks Championship Piece
The New York Liberty's first postseason championship ring turned out to be well worth the wait.
This season opened with the Liberty receiving the victorious bands they earned from their triumph in last fall's WNBA Finals. The massive undertaking was overseen by Jason Arasheben, the eponymous, Los Angeles-based jeweler of Jason of Beverly Hills, in a collaboration with Brooklyn-based sisters Dynasty and Soull Ogun.
The ring itself is a multi-faceted setpiece that packs several major facts and figures behind the Liberty's 2024 title run into one large accessory: the top is dominated by the Liberty's signature torch emblem accompanied by the "NY" initials, while the sides display the WNBA Finals trophy and an Ogun-designed leaf rising through cracked concrete accompanied by the wearer's jersey number.
Notable numbers went into the ring's design: six carats of white diamonds referenced the six years of ownership under Clara Wu and Joe Tsai, eleven black diamonds reflect the number of playoff games it took to lift the trophy, and 32 black-diamond points appear in tribute to the 32 regular season wins that tied a franchise record from the year before.
The top of the ring opens to reveal further surprises and memories: at the base is a mini replica of the Liberty's Barclays Center playing surface with the results of their 2024 playoff series victories over Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Minnesota commemorated above. The cover carries earrings in the style of the Liberty's secondary "NY" logo to be worn on the go.
“This wasn’t just a ring — it was a responsibility," Arasheben, who has also designed rings for MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL champions, said in a release from the Liberty. "The New York Liberty waited 28 seasons for this moment, and we knew the jewelry needed to reflect every ounce of that journey. From the torch to the concrete leaf motif, every detail in the design was carefully chosen to honor the legacy, grit, and passion behind this historic win."
After the Liberty were presented with the rings prior to May 17's opener against the Las Vegas Aces at Barclays Center, Arasheben spoke with Liberty on SI on the bejeweled process and what went into the final, dazzling product.
What has drawn you to an opportunity like the ones that the WNBA champions have presented?
JA: I've done rings for Los Angeles, San Francisco, all these cities, but I've never done a ring for the biggest city in the world, which is New York City. To do it and to bring the sheen and the prestige of the championship ring that was otherwise exclusive to the male sports, I was excited to be able to bring that to women's sports and to the biggest city, to a city that has so much character. By itself, the borough of Brooklyn has so much character, so much history, and means so much for the culture. I felt like it was an honor to be able to to create and design a ring for that city, the biggest city in the world.
What sort of challenges arise when designing a championship ring for a WNBA champion as opposed the commonly-accepted major sports leagues like MLB, the NBA, NFL, and NHL?
JA: I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as a new challenge, other than the fact that you want to be able to bring it over. For a long time here, we've done these over-the-top rings for the NFL players, the NBA players, when they win their championship and get a championship ring. I aimed to let WNBA players feel the same way.
I wanted their rate to be compared to and to be able to stand up against an NBA championship ring and narrow the difference. I wanted to bring that same flair to the WNBA, and I think we achieved that with this year's ring. You have to design a ring that's going to tell a story, and it can't just be rich in design, it has to be robust and rich in storytelling as well, which means we have to capture the essence of the season. We have to tell the story of the fans, the city, the organization, and their run in the playoffs, into the Finals, and then an eventual championship.
When you're building a ring, you have a limited amount of real estate, so you have to be very intentional with every decision that you make, and make sure that, at the end of the day, the design is not only beautiful, but also tells a story that is that is very thorough and robust. I think we did that on the Liberty's ring.
You appeared to have accomplished that with so many meaningful numbers and symbolism packed into the band. Do any ideas perhaps go by the wayside in the design process?
JA: We couldn't have built more storyline into the ring if we wanted to. You start to get to some championship rings of yesteryear where they have, insignificant numbers. Like, oh, it was 72 diamonds here, because it was 72 degrees the day we played our championship game. We didn't want to go that far (laughs).
We wanted to kind of limit it to the important numbers, the important statistics, things that, on Christmas Day, 20 years from now, will be something that would be fun to talk about during a fireplace chat. When we're designing rings, we're trying to design a ring that's timeless, that tells a story, so that way there's more to it than just the design. I want the recipient of the ring to be able to sit there and, when describing the ring, be able to tell so much about the ring that it leaves people's jaws dropped.
It's safe to say that it's left an impression: most, if not all, of the players have commented on how "big" the ring is. How does it feel to get that kind of feedback from these women, who are obviously at the top of their respective games?
JA: It's honestly a dream come true. It's an honor to hear that the players like it. As a jeweler, our Super Bowl, our moment of reward is when we see the players' faces when they open up that box, and when we see their eyes light up and their jaws drop, we know we've done a good job.
NBA rings have been huge, especially in the last 10 years. The increase in size has been huge. The basketball community is a very small community, and these WNBA players, they congregate with NBA players. They see the rings that they got. They see NBA players showing off the rings. I wanted the WNBA players to not feel like they're second fiddle. I wanted the rings to be on par with every male championship ring that's ever been created and exceeding some of those rings. With this ring, we feel like we've been able to accomplish that.
When you see this ring and you put it side-by-side with NBA championship rings, with Super Bowl rings, they're right on par, that is on par with size, with the amount of diamonds. You see that the players appreciate and respect that, and that makes me feel great.
Certainly the most unique touch of the piece has to be the earrings. How did you come up with that idea, and how great is it to have something almost akin to a portable version of the ring that one could wear anytime, even casual situations?
JA: The great thing about this particular project is we're able to team up with with a Brooklyn based jewelry designer, Dynasty and Soull Ogun. That was actually their idea.
We're known for having a ring that's almost like a transformer. It turns into different things. It has different features and functions. They wanted to bring something new that hasn't been done before. They felt that the utility of having a removable earring was something that the people, the players would appreciate.
I think it turned a lot it turned a lot of heads, a lot of people, a lot of the players, were appreciative that they could take a piece of the ring with them, even when they're not wearing the ring. It's not exactly the most practical piece of jewelry! The fact that they can take earrings out and wear a piece of the ring, I thought would mean a lot to the players.
What was it like collaborating with Dynasty and Soull Ogun and how did their local perspective add to the design?
JA: Collaborating with the Oguns was an integral part of the design process, because, at the end of the day, we're a Los Angeles- based company and the Oguns are Brooklyn through-and-through. We wanted to be able to really capture the essence of Brooklyn, capture the storytelling of Brooklyn, capture the grit that is Brooklyn, and that is the New York Liberty.
For them to be able to bring a little bit of design flair to the ring, and their design contributions to the ring, I thought, made it more authentically Brooklyn and really, you know, told the story of the city.
You previously described creating this ring as a "responsibility." How do you think you responded to that challenge in this final design?
JA: I think we fulfilled the responsibility and I feel satisfied with the result of the ring.
With every ring that we make, people always ask me, is this your favorite ring? I always say, well, the last one I made. I'm not just saying that to say that. I put in a challenge on ourselves, on our company, to be able to make each ring better than the ring before it.
With every ring I do, I always, at the end of day look at it and say, is this truly my favorite ring? Is this the best piece of work that we've done? Because we're always trying to get better. We're not trying to plateau. When I looked at this ring on ring day, and I kind of took a time to take a deep breath and really reflect on the process, the final result, I was really proud of what we've been able to accomplish.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.