How it Came to Be . . .
The creation of the TCB ring was an ongoing process that started on a plane ride back from Vegas after Elvis' closing on April 1, 1975. As we rode back to Memphis, Elvis discussed with me the fact that he wanted a big show ring, something that would be very distinguishable, something that when people saw it they would think instantly of Elvis.
He reminded me that the next tour started on May 30 in Huntsville, Alabama, and he wanted the ring ready for tour. Well, that gave me two months, and in those two months I built a ring with a large diamond in the center and a big horseshoe around the outside edge. It was big and flashy and he wore it on tour. After the tour, he told me it just wasn't what he wanted. We sketched and drew together and came up with a rough sketch of what he really wanted. I decided to make a model of the ring. I went to an airplane hobby shop and bought a block of balsa wood because it could be painted. It would have been easy to make the model out of wax, but I didn’t think I could paint it to show all of the details I wanted it to have. So, I made it out of balsa wood and very painstakingly carved the ring out of wood. After I finished it, I painted it gold, with a black onyx in the center, and painted the lightening bolts white and, of course, the diamonds were all painted white. I made it to fit his hand, and I took it out to Graceland and showed it to him. He thought that was what he wanted, "this is what I really want, this is the ring that says ELVIS".
So, the next process was to make the models for the ring. The first model is made with silver, totally by hand. From the silver model you make a mold.
The next process was to cast the ring, and it was cast in eight different pieces. The shank of the ring, the framing of the ring which held it all together, the lightening bolt on each side, the TCB letters were individual, and, of course, the setting for the diamond. After we got the ring completed it was time to cut the onyx for the ring, and knowing how rough Elvis was, I decided to use black jade, instead of onyx, which I used because of its durability. The ring is made of all 18 kt. Gold, the frame under the ring that everything is attached to is made of 18 kt. white gold, the lightening bolts are welded to the ring and they are white gold, and the letters that hold the diamonds are all white gold. As the ring neared completion, we could see what it was going to look like finished, everyone in the shop was excited. Of course, the last thing to do was to set the big center diamond. When we got it set and finished polishing it, we were all really very proud of this ring.
That night, I drove out to Graceland with the ring. We were going on tour the next day, and Elvis had been calling me and worrying about whether we were going to have it on time, I kept assuring him we were right on schedule.
After driving out to Graceland, I told one of the bodyguards I was there and that I had the ring. They told Elvis and he said bring it on upstairs. I told them to tell Elvis I wanted to give it to him under this big chandelier, at his dining room table, because it would show up best there. After a few minutes Elvis came down, sat at the head of the table in his usual chair... I quietly slid one of my largest ring boxes over to him, even my largest box would not close for this ring. He slowly opened the box with that famous Elvis smile, I have never seen him so excited about anything than when he opened this box. He put the ring on his finger, it was a perfect fit, and he just went crazy. He kept holding it out, looking at it and he said, "Boy, nobody, nobody has a ring like this, not even Liberace". He grabbed my hand, he shook it, he said "I know how hard you have worked on this, and I really appreciate it, and I want to do something for you". He gave me a beige and cream colored Lincoln Mark III he was driving and told me to send the bill to his dad. That was July the 6th, 1975. On July 8th, two days later, I left on tour with Elvis. |
 |
