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Paul Badali: Forging the One Ring
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Paul Badali is a true Tolkien Fanatic who combined his love for Tolkien and his love for Jewelry Design to design and create his own version of the One Ring. We have added a Product Special about Paul Badali to our Merchandize Section. To see a catalogue of the Products paul creates and sells, visit Paul Badali: Product Special.
I read "The Hobbit" for the first time in 1967 as a junior in highschool in Branford, Connecticut. It was the first entire book I had ever read on my own. I was a very poor reader and it took a lot of time, effort, and dedication on my part to read it in it's entirety. But Tolkien's style and the content of the book captivated my interest, and I was compelled to persevere. I read well now at age 50, and could fill a large trunk with the science fiction and fantasy novels I have read. The reading of "The Hobbit" that first time was a turning point in my life. I was shaped and molded by the experience in very real ways.
I went on to read "The Lord of the Rings" series for the first time in 1969 through 1971 at college; Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The experience gave me a harder push down the same path in life that "The Hobbit" had helped set my feet to walking. 30 years later, here I am a jeweler crafting The Ruling Ring, and other fantasy related jewelry; Dragons, Snakes, Spiders, and custom Norse Rune Rings at our website www.badalijewelry.com. In searching for a name for our first daughter in 1975, I suggested Lothlorian. My wife liked the sound and idea, but shortened it to Loria (loth LORIA n). So even my first born child bears a Tolkien inspired name, and is proud of it by the way. But we have jumped ahead, and left out many steps on the path.
In 1955 my father built a house in Branford, Connecticut for his wife and 4 year old son; me. I spent my young years surrounded by nature; Long Island Sound a 5 minute walk out the front door, thousands of acres of virgin woods out the back, and Altmansburger's pond in the middle. I was not social or athletic; quite a loner. I was a Nature Boy. Trees, squirrels, fish and rocks were my companions.
In 1958, in the first grade at age 7, I found The Crystal. There was a land fill, "The Dump" just north of our house. People threw all kinds of fascinating objects there for me to play with, and occasionally truck loads of dirt and rock were brought in to cover it up. My mother forbade me to play there, of course. One day while playing there a bright flash of light in fresh fill dirt caught my eye, and my heart fluttered. My small hand reached out to uncover and lift a large, clear, sparkling stone from the dirt. I had never experienced that rush of feeling before; the rush of anticipation at the first glimpse of a buried treasure before it is entirely visible. Of uncovering it, and watching it take shape and become fully revealed. The thrill of holding it for the first time; of possession; of completion. But this was not just any small boy's treasure; this was A Crystal. I had never held a crystal before. It was magical! The art work on the cover of the Lead Zeplin album "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor" of a small boy reaching for a crystal dangling before his eyes really expresses that magical feeling weil. That is how it felt.
I had that crystal until 6th grade, when I brought it to school for a rock collection the class was doing, and it disappeared. But it had cast it's spelion my life by that time. My love for the mineral kingdom or rocks, fossils, gems, and minerals, but especially large crystals has persisted to this day and grown much deeper. It is part of the reason that I am a jeweler. I still morn it's loss.
The thrill of finding that first crystal gave me not only a love of crystals and minerals, but also a love for the thrill of finding treasures. I have been a rockhound all my life. I hunted for garnets and fish fossils in Connecticut in my youth. Here in Utah I love going to Topaz Mountain to find topaz and red beryl crystals. I took up metal detecting in 1977 to find buried coins. And I began mining gold under water with a gold dredge in 1985. As an adult, I enjoy collecting antique marbles for many of the same reasons. I know exact what Bilbo felt when first he picked up The Ring, and when he found the Arkenstone. My first crystal was my own small arkenstone. I know how it hurt for Bilbo to surrender it to Bard. I love finding things in the earth.
In 1970, I was passing the hobby shop in the basement of the Wilkinson center at BYU, and noticed an acquaintance doing -something. I went in to see what he was doing, got involved, and an hour later I had just completed cutting and polishing my first gemstone -a tigereye. He was doing Lapidary; cutting and polishing gems. A week later we were out in the Utah desert finding agate, and a week af ter that I was making Christmas presents with the gems I had found and cut. I purchased ready made settings at Stan's Rock Shop to mount the stones into necklaces and broaches. Stan Jones loved opal, and his enthusiasm and love for opal rubbed off on me. Today I set diamonds into gold and platinum every day as a master jeweler; but opal is still my favorite gem.
Stan's ready made settings left much to be desired. In 1974 I learned to silversmith
so that I could create my own settings. I continued my study of jewelry design in the Metal Smithing and Jewelry Design classes at Weber State College from 1975 through 1977. Later, I actually had the opportunit y to go back and teach that same class at what is now Weber State University from 1990 through 1992. The student had become the master. It was great fun, and several of my students became very good friends, and even business partners.
I opened my first jewelry store in 1975. I graduated from college in 1978 with a BS in Zoology and Botany (I told y ou I was a Nature Boy). I taught junior high science for 2 years, and highschool biology for 7 before coming back to the jewelry business.
And so we come to the making of The One Ring. As a jeweler, being highly influenced by the writings of J.R.R Tolkien, it was inevitable that I would craft The One Ring of Power. I probably made my earliest attempts in 1975 or so; crude attempts to be sure. I set about to make it in a serious way in 1997, had unsatisfying results several times, and finally produced a flattened style good enough to sell in 1998. 1999 that was refined to the more rounded comfort fit style I make now.
I had no idea that anyone owned the trademarks to J.R.R. Tolkien's works when I started selling the rings. A customer asked if I was licensed with Tolkien Enterprises soon after I started, and I responded "Who is Tolkien Enterprises?"
It turns out that the Tolkien Family Estate sold the rights to "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" to Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records and movie producer. Saul Zaentz is the man who discovered and recorded Creedence Clearwater Revival (the Golliwogs before their recording contract with Fantasy) and produced "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in 1975 and "The Lord of the Rings" animated movie in 1978. He produced the movie soon after he acquired the Tolkien rights, and created a licensing company called Tolkien Enterprises to license the rights to other artists. I contacted Tolkien Enterprises and negotiated licensing rights 50 that I could continue to make and sell the ring.
 At badalijewelry.com we are very busy now producirig The One Ring due largely to all the excitement and anticipation for the forthcoming "The Lord of the Rings" movie from New Line Cinemas. We make the Precious in gold, silver, and gold-plated bronze which we call "Gollum Gold". As time permits, I may put my hand to other rings from Tolkien's works. I am currently negotiating with another popular fantasy author to produce pieces of jewelry from his novels; dragons and snakes and such. We also make magical custom Rune spell rings in silver and gold. I can translate any short phrase into ancient Norse (Viking), and write it in Runes of the Elder Futhark on a silver or gold ring.
My jewelry is very much a reflection of who and what I am, and I am a reflection of my experiences in life. Tolkien's writings have had a profound influence on my thoughts, my feelings, my likes, and my desires. I have been molded by Llfe to be the man who would one day craft The One Ring of Power.
Paul Badali
Visit our Paul Badali Product Special for a catalogue of the various Rings that you can purchase.
Contributed by: Paul Badali - Link: http://www.badalijewelry.com
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