Tupac Shakur’s custom-designed ring worn days before his death fetches over $1 million at auction

“This one-of-a-kind, custom ring was meticulously designed by Pac and is among the final products of his boundless creative energy — a unique artefact from a period of time that is a testament to his enduring influence on Hip Hop,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s Global Head of Science and Popular Culture, said.

The diamond-encrusted gold band, inscribed with “Pac & Dada 1996” as a tribute to his engagement with actor and model Kidada Jones, is adorned with a gold circlet featuring a cabochon ruby and two pavé-cut diamonds on top.

“What’s so special about this ring is that it shows him in a moment where he was not necessarily on the front lines as an artist, but just a man expressing his love for another person, and that’s beautiful to see,” said De La Soul’s Kelvin Mercer, a guest curator for the sale, on the Sotheby’s website.

It was designed over several months after the rapper signed with Death Row Records following a prison sentence of which he served eight months. It was modelled after the crowns of Europe’s medieval kings in “an act of self-coronation,” said Shakur’s godmother Yaasmyn Fula, who brought the ring to auction, according to a Sotheby’s press release.

Tupac’s selection of the ruby as the focal gem is a continuation of this royal narrative, as rubies have long been symbolically tied to the imagery of monarchy and wealth in our cultural imagination, the auction house said.

Tupac’s possessions hitting the auction block is not a new occurrence. Back in 2018, a breakup letter written by Tupac to Madonna was also put up for auction. Despite the singer’s, 64, attempts to prevent it, the letter was eventually auctioned off by the Gotta Have Rock and Roll auction house.

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