What was the first piece that you sold in large quantities that really took off? Why do you think that was?
Three or so years back Jay-Z starting rocking an iced out bead bracelet. We were all over that. We were the top ranked website in Google for any keywords for that product. It become so popular within a few months that everybody was rockin it and the market got flooded with so many versions that it just died out in a few years. We were all over the Cuban chain wave, which is still going right now, but Cuban chains have been around for a long time. The design comes from the Curb chain, a long time staple of Italian based chain manufacturers.
If you could design a piece for a celebrity, dead or alive, who would it be? What would the piece be?
We’ve met Wiz Khalifa before. He’s rocked our stuff. I’d like to make a custom piece for him. The dude is so creative. I think we could do a dope Jimmy Hendrix piece for him with the strings on the Guitar, highly detailed. But I would just vibe off his ideas, since I’m sure he has plenty.
How are you able to create pieces for the masses that imitate the ones you sell to celebrities without sacrificing the quality and authenticity?
We use the same quality craftsmanship as jewelry made with diamonds and gold except we replace them with lab created diamonds and mixed alloy. It basically looks and feels the same but costs a fraction of the price. Mass production is done the same way.
What’s the most extravagant or your favorite piece that you’ve done?
There’s two of them. The one I love the most right now is the private jet, because it’s so dope and represent wealth and success. It has a lot details including the windows, the G650 mark on the tail, the wing tips. It was made using a 3D printer, the latest technology in mold making. The machine costs over $100,000. We also did an iced out microphone flag for Snoop that he loved. We made a couple more and took them to trade shows like Agenda and Preview where we interviewed folks for King Ice TV. Whenever we pull that mic out, we get a strong reaction. People want to hold it and take pictures of it. It’s so blinged out.
Are there rules that you give you clients when coming up with custom pieces? Or is it anything goes?
If it’s an A-list celebrity client we do business trades. They are obligated to promote us through their social media and give interviews and images to us. In turn we produce a custom piece. If it’s a regular client we will charge them based on the size, materials, and complexity of design.
For those wanting to get into the custom jewelry game, what advice can you give them?
Stay away we got it locked! I can let them know that it’s going to be a grind because it’s not easy to find a manufacturer of jewelry like you would with apparel, there is so much that goes into making one piece. From the concept, to mold making to production. It’s like creating a piece of art. Trying to manage all this and maintain the quality requires a lot of knowledge. Do your research before getting into this game.
I see you guys branching off into apparel, skateboards, and even gold shoe laces. I’ve also started seeing gold blunt raps on the internet. What’s next for King Ice?
We want to grow the brand by offering our original pieces in boutiques and retail chains in the US and around the world. We recently did the Agenda Show in Vegas and the reaction was crazy. We’re currently a top seller on Karmaloop. We want to build on that relationship and expand into other marketplaces as well as build our own marketplace for jewelry brands making KingIce.com a hub for the latest streetwear jewelry, accessories and apparel. We are selling more apparel as well to complement the jewelry and plan on releasing our own KING ICE apparel which will feature clothing that works well with jewelry. We will continue to hold rap contest and skate contest from which we are building a team KING ICE of sponsored athletes and rappers.
Bryan Hahn (@notupstate)