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Campbell dislikes the thought of making another inconvenient
trip to pick
up Troy's piece, but figures she'll still come
out cheaper - - about $200 or
so -- buying the jewelry in
Chicago. The custom- fitted gold or platinum pieces have
become ubiquitous in some communities as more local
merchants have jumped into the sales.
Troy has wanted a grill for two
years, but the desire to sport a shiny smile increased
recently. "As soon as I saw the video, I wanted one," he
said, referencing the Nelly music rap video featuring Paul
Wall, Ali and Gipp for the hit oral bling anthem "Grillz."
Grills -- also called caps fronts
or
Hip-Hop and Bling Bling --
have been popular with Southern
rappers since the 1990s. Before that, 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
Hip-Hop and Bling Bling TV Jewelry shop.
Demand has led companies such as Wall's 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.
"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.
A piece 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 it 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 store sold a few of the
Hip-Hop and Bling Bling 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 plans to sport the jewelry while clubbing.
Most
Hip-Hop and Bling Bling 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.
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 mon 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
--
Hip-Hop and Bling Bling 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.
Thailand's Chantaburi
the trading place in Asia for precious and semi precious
stones. |
