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National championship rings are not as expensive as they appear

A couple of football fans showing off their rings at the 2011 National Championship Game. (John David Mercer/US PRESSWIRE)

A couple of football fans showing off their rings at the 2011 National Championship Game. (John David Mercer/US PRESSWIRE)

A few months after the confetti falls and a college coach — oftentimes named Nick Saban — hoists the crystal football, the BCS national championship winner gets shiny rings.

Alabama recently received its bling and tweeted pictures.

Here’s a close up.

Alabama's 2012 National Championship ring. (Photo courtesy of Jostens)

Alabama’s 2012 National Championship ring. (Photo courtesy of Jostens)

Pretty, right? Yes, but those aren’t real diamonds and rubies. Rather, they’re man-made stones meant to look real.

Per NCAA guidelines, student-athletes may only receive $415 worth of gifts for winning a national championship, and $325 if they win the conference title.

Jostens, a company that makes jewelry for high school graduations, college and professional championships, as well as other personalized items, has a partnership with the BCS and has created the last nine national championship rings.

Chris Poitras, the national director of sales and marketing for Jostens sports division, said that national championship rings, compared to Super Bowl rings, for example, are vastly different. Like “apples and oranges,” he said.

Take this 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series ring. That cardinal is made up of genuine rubies.

St. Louis Cardinals' 2011 World Series ring. (Photo courtesy of Jostens)

St. Louis Cardinals’ 2011 World Series ring. (Photo courtesy of Jostens)

The crimson script A on Alabama’s ring looks like it could be made of rubies, too, but it’s actually simulated colored non-genuine stones, which look identical.

Jostens has its own metal refinery, where they make precious and non-precious alloys. They have 10k, 14k and 18k gold, and also metals that look exactly the same, but cost considerably less.

“In the last 5-10 years, the increase in gold and genuine diamond prices has pretty much priced gold and diamonds out of the scenario for college rings,” Poitras said.

Poitras wouldn’t go into how much professional championship rings cost. He said it’s hard to give an accurate example because price is dictated by design, and every team has a different one.

He did say that pro sports rings are larger and heavier than college ones although the BCS national championship ring has “grown tremendously” in the last three years (S-E-C!).

But value isn’t always tied to gold and diamonds. Sometimes these rings appear on ebay and sell for thousands of dollars, despite what cheaper materials it might actually made of.

Take a 1976 Indiana Hoosiers national championship ring that belonged to an unidentified former basketball player and is going for $32,019.76. Then take a 2008 Florida Gators national championship “fan” ring selling for $499.99. The Hoosiers ring is considerably more because of the sentimental value.

Regardless of what happens to the rings after they are awarded, Jostens is heavily invested in the process.

“It’s a unique opportunity,” Poitras said. “When we embark on the process with the University of Alabama or the Baltimore Ravens, we are trying to do the best job we can to tell this story of the entire season on that ring.

“We want to make it a lasting symbol for them.”

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