When I think of hip-hop, one of the first things that springs to mind is ‘bling’. Maybe it’s because I’m a jeweller, but no one does diamonds and gold quite like a rapper. In fact, Kanye West probably said it best after revealing his new diamond teeth to Ellen Degeneres, “There’s just certain stuff that rock stars are supposed to do.”

Recently, I wrote about personalised jewellery pieces and the ways we can use customisation to create jewellery that’s as unique as the individual. And while I certainly don’t see myself, or many of my customers, in a set of diamond braces anytime soon, we can learn a thing or two from rappers and their ability to express themselves through their bling.

So I thought it would be fun to take a look at eight of the biggest names in hip hop and the jewellery that has come to define them:

50 Cent

Eminem’s close buddy clearly loves his diamond pave set jewellery. It’s one of the most extravagant diamond designs imaginable – the reason why so many in the rap set try to emulate it. The heavy chains are probably white gold chains, but this style is often replicated in platinum throughout the US. His first album was aptly titled ‘Get rich or die trying’.

Busta Rhymes

Brooklyn born rapper Busta Rhymes busts out some very large diamonds when he’s on stage or on the town. One round diamond adorns his finger while another large square emerald sits on his other hand. Never one to pare down, you can see he likes to wear his diamond pave bracelet with other large singular stones.

Flavor Flav 

Since the 1980s, iconic Flavor has been a member of one of the first hugely successful rap groups, Public Enemy. And while he’s famous for the giant clocks he wears around his neck, there’s far more to his collection than Big Ben bling. You can see he also loves his 18 caret yellow gold jewellery – a bit of an unusual choice on the hip-hop scene, and yet another thing that sets the intriguing Mr Flav apart.

Kanye West

Allegedly, Kanye had a near-fatal car accident a few years ago that left his bottom teeth severely damaged. Not happy with just a new set of pearly whites from the dentist, he went to his jeweller and had custom made gold crowns with diamonds inserted – talk about a multimillion dollar smile.

And during last year’s Black Entertainment Awards, the man who penned ‘Golddigger’ sported an estimated $300,000 worth of 24 carat yellow gold link chains custom made my Jacob & Co.

Read part 2 of ‘Diamonds are a Rapper’s Best Friend’