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have been popular with Southern
rappers since the 1990s. Beforethat, it was fashionable in some
hip-hop circles to wear a single, removable gold
tooth cap. Houston rapper Wall had done solid
business selling such jewel- encrusted items for
tens of thousands of dollars to celebrities from his
TV Jewelry shop.
Demand has led companies such as Wall's
for bling bling and hip hop jewelry.
to expand to fill
orders online and by mail; small jewelers to rush to learn
to fit customers for pieces; and dentists to investigate
offering them as a way to boost business.
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"People with grills seem to be
pulling more girls,"
Troy said. "I guess cause they
got money in their mouth."
Actually, less so these days. Although the cost of gold has
nearly doubled over the last six years, the competition for
the business has lowered grill prices, making them more
affordable for the teens who want to emulate celebrities.
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A piece of bling bling and
hip hop jewelry that would have cost $400 last year now
goes for half that at Milan Jewelers. But grills customers
produce higher sales volumes than do shoppers drawn to the
store's $300- to $400-gold chains a year ago, says salesman
Patrick Sam. The sales account for 15 percent to 20 percent
of business at Treasures jewelery store at Ford City, owner
Samir Noorani said. It's a store that sells $22,000 18-karat
gold Jacob & Co. watches. But Noorani is pushing the fronts.
At the entrance, a photo of Noorani alongside rapper
Twista
-- both showing their enhanced smiles flashes across a
monitor along with a sign announcing, "We make diamond teeth
grills." He recently bought radio spots that shout the
availability of grills.
"We saw bling bling and hip hop jewelry as the next big fashion thing," Noorani said.
"Our business is mostly fad. There are so many changes every
few months that you have to look for the next big thing, and
this is definitely it."
Last year, the bling bling and hip hop jewelry store sold a few of the pieces. These days
it's more like 10 to 15 a day. Most orders total $600 to
$700.
Chicago construction worker Charles Lewis, 26, recently
ordered a $1,300 set. He'd bought one before in Tennessee in
1999 for about $500, but lost it and said he couldn't afford
to order another from a dentist.
"Jewelry stores just started doing them,"
said Lewis, who says he |
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plans to sport the jewelry while
clubbing.
Most bling bling and
hip hop jewelry purchasers are guys in their late teens and early 20s.
But Milan salesman Patrick Sam said the store recently sold
one for an 8- year-old boy.
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Pediatric dentist Mary J. Hayes has gotten so many
inquiries about the items -- usually from older teens
out of parental earshot - - that she plans to ask exhibitors
at the Chicago Dental Society's Midwinter Meeting about the
process.
"If something doesn't harm a tooth and it's decorative and
temporary, there could be some interest in it," she said.
Increasingly adolescent girls have taken an interest, a
harbinger of the peak of an urban trend.
Amal Elabed, 17, expects to be the first girl at John F.
Kennedy High School to sport a grill, one with her first
name etched into the first four front teeth and set off with
a pair of diamond cut fangs. The get-up, in 18-karat gold,
will cost about $375.
"I'm a show-off," said Elabed, decked out in a gold Rocawear
jacket, Baby Phat jeans, Jordans, a heavy gold necklace,
several gold rings and dozens of gold bangle bracelets.
"My dad calls me Mr. T because of all of my gold,"
Elabed says. "He was like 'The only thing left is your
teeth.'"
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She is worried about the
reaction of one parent as she mulls a purchase.
"My mom would kill me," she said. "She thinks
18-karat is cheap."
A few questions and comments to grill wearers and
bearers, courtesy of Nelly's "Grillz":
How'd you get ya grill that way?
A jeweler typically provides a customer a sheet or
catalog of styles. Designs range from solid to
etches to cutouts that allow the enamel of the
natural tooth to show. Metals include silver, gold,
platinum and white gold.
To make each piece, the seller makes an impression
of the teeth using a mold kit, having the customer
bite on a mixed compound |
until it's hardened. The
mold is shipped out for casting.
To clean them, use jewelry cleaner and rinse with
warm water.
And how much did you pay?
Thank your sweet Nelly for helping to popularize the
trend, leading money-smelling retailers to jump into
competition and drive down prices. Chicago jewelers
are selling them for about $200 for a row of six.
The more iced out
-- diamond encrusted -- the higher the price. On the
extravagant side, a neighborhood baller might pay
$5,000 to $10,000.
Smile for me, Daddy, let me see ya grill
Not so fast, guys.
True, some ladies
love you in your grills.
"I think every guy should get one," says Amal Elabed,
17.
Others, though, are content to
see you approach with unadorned pearly whites. Amal's buddy,
Amanda Faskin, 18, is in that camp.
"I like clean-cut guys. It doesn't look good to me," she
says. Author Cheryl V. Jackson Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All
rights Reserved.
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