The Evolution of Bling Watches
Gold bling watches were first introduced in the culture of Hip Hop.
An indication of affluence and power in New York City and its Burroughs is a gold watch.
Gold bling watches were first introduced in the culture of Hip Hop in the later parts of the 1980s by emerging artists in the names of LL Cool J and Run DMC.
In addition to gold-capped teeth, rope chains, and diamond earrings, apparently these rappers weren’t content and decided to add another flashy bling in the form of the shimmering gold watch.
Swathed in what looked like thousands of dollars worth of flashy jewelry, their newly accomplished wealth was announced across the country on television and it influenced the inner city youth who started to imitate their favorite Hip Hop idols.
The fashion of the 80’s began to grow more and more extreme and, as a result, the gold bling pitched in.
In music videos back in the days, you will find almost everyone has hopped in the bandwagon of Hip Hop fashion by donning Nike Air Jordan’s, Hammer pants and, of course, the eminent gold watches.
For some reason, this costly jewelry symbolized social and racial change as more and more men began scaling up the success ladder.
1990
Watches that were made of white and solid gold were ornamented with tons of sparkly diamonds.
By the time it reached 1990s Hip Hop by then gained full impetus and rappers like Biggie and 2Pac began to display their wealth with glitzier accessories. Watches that were made of white gold and solid gold were ornamented with tons of sparkly diamonds. The watches had brilliant colors and had very complex and sophisticated clockwork designs.
Aside from these features Hip Hop bling watches also had a uniquely longer and wider bezel face to give it a sporty touch. These Hip Hop gold watches were overtly displayed together with other expensive diamond bracelets. There are even artists who would altogether wear layers of jewelry on top of their gold watch.
Grillz designer and rapper Paul Wall in the VH1 Rock Doc “Bling’d – Blood, Diamonds & Hip Hop” said, “There is a lot of substance in diamonds because [it shows you have] overcome the struggle from poverty to success. My reward is having some diamonds around my neck, some diamonds in my mouth.”
1994
Biggest stars started purchasing platinum accessories that are diamond-studded.
In the year 1994, Faith Evans, Biggie’s girlfriend at that time had just signed with Bad Boy Entertainment owned by none other than the famous Puff Daddy. Faith Evans randomly stumbled on a typical New York store that housed the brilliant and Jacob Arabo and his impeccable talent. At the time, Jacob didn’t know his life would change for good.
News spread like wildfire in the industry of music and later Arabo managed to gather a growing base of influential supporters and followers who authorized his talents to create more extensive jewelry like Biz Markie’s popular 4-finger ring. This caught the eye of some of our industry’s biggest stars like Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston. These two have grown fond of Jacob’s work that they started purchasing platinum accessories that are diamond-studded from the hailed “Jacob the Jeweler.”
1998
The term “Bling” instantly became a part of the urban vocabulary.
The term “bling” instantly became a part of the urban vocabulary as it has been mentioned in Slick Rick’s single in 1988 called “Mona Lisa” and the television show hit Martin.
1999
Bling watches started to combine a collection of gems like the Cubic Zirconia.
The very first artist who gave a shout out to Arabo was Jay-Z on his 1999 “Girl’s Best Friend” cut. Ever since then Arabo’s name has been stated in over seventy-five records such as songs composed by Beyonce, Ice Cube, Kanye West, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Missy Elliot and Nas.
While diamonds, platinum, and gold continue to dominate in the industry of music, certain Hip Hop bling watches started to combine a colorful collection of gems like the Cubic Zirconia into its design. Daring colors such as canary yellow, metallic green and sunset orange became very trendy in the fashion industry. Aside from these black diamonds that are cultivated from Brazil and the Central African Republic also became a hot trend.
References
- https://curtismwest.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/the-evolution-of-bling-watches/. Retrieved 2015-11-24
- http://rhibee1.blogspot.com/2013/03/urban-fashion-article.html. Retrieved 2015-11-20
- http://www.dollywoodboutique.co.uk/accessories-c19/red-gold-bling-embellishment-fashion-snap-back-cap-p144. Retrieved 2015-11-23
- http://rhibee1.blogspot.com/2013/03/urban-fashion-article.html. Retrieved 2015-11-26
- http://www.pastreunited.com/1980s-fashion.php. Retrieved 2015-11-25
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