To commemorate the Los Angeles Football Club's memorable 2022 championship season, Baron Championship Rings stepped out of the box by adding a design element that is a first of its kind in major league sports — black obsidian overlay.
LAFC's official colors of black and gold are intended to reflect success, glamor and the urban texture of the City of Angels. Baron successfully delivered "on brand" black rings, accomplished technically by overlaying the 10-karat yellow gold base of each ring with black obsidian, a glass-like material that occurs in nature when molten lava cools quickly.
According to Baron, the ring design celebrates the LAFC’s historic first MLS title and speaks directly to the club’s ethos of uniting the club and community through special design elements and symbolism.
The dramatic ring top features the team's iconic "LA" mark framed in yellow gold and filled with white diamonds. Surrounding the logo is a field of black diamonds, along with the MLS Cup Champions wordmarks rendered in yellow gold.
The right shoulder of the ring presents the player’s name running vertically, along with the jersey number and championship year positioned horizontally. Also on the right shoulder is the Supporters‘ Shield symbol, denoting the award given to the MLS team with the best regular season record.
The left shoulder includes a stylized representation of the MLS Cup rendered in white diamonds. Baron also added the team’s jersey pattern to the background of both shoulders for a unique touch.
Baron utilized 128 black diamonds on the ring top to pay homage to Gareth Bale’s goal at the 128th minute mark during the MLS Cup final.
LAFC and the Philadelphia Union had played to a tie at the end of regulation time and were forced to play two 15-minute overtime periods. Just four minutes after the Union took a 3-2 lead during the second overtime, Bale scored the tying goal in stoppage time to force a shootout. LAFC won on penalty shots 3-0.
The inside shank displays “Forza Mo” and the infinity symbol, which pay respect to Mo Fascio, the former VP of the LAFC supporters' group known as The 3252. Beloved for for his ability to connect, unite and build community, Fascio passed away in March 2021 after losing a battle with COVID-19.
The ring's inside engraving features the scores of all three victorious playoff matches and the city abbreviations of the opponents. The outside shank engraving holds the team’s rally cry, "For Los Angeles."
Credits: Images courtesy of Baron Championship Rings.