Elvis Presley created some of his most memorable looks incorporating jewelry such as the offered gold, diamond and sapphire "Egyptian Pharaoh Head" ring, which he eventually gifted to Memphis Mafia member Marty Lacker. The impressive, and hefty, 14k gold ring features two small diamonds as the Pharaoh's eyes and a stunning blue sapphire mounted in his head piece. Elvis owned two rings of this style, the other with a red garnet in the head piece. One of the two figural rings was on his finger the day he stopped by the martial arts studio of his bodyguard Dave Hebler in 1972. The photo shown here captures Elvis wearing his infamous turban outfit, along with his ram's head necklace and several rings inlcuding what looks very simillar to the offered ring. Dave Hebler was interviewed by elvisinfonet.com, and he recounted the event:
That photo was taken at my Karate School in Glendora, Ca. where Elvis came to visit me and some of my students. In a few of the pictures that were taken that day you can see two young girls on either side of Elvis. Those are my two daughters. Kris is on the left and Lorie is on the right in the pictures. This - for obvious reasons - is my favorite picture of Elvis. Why Elvis appeared that day in the turban had us all wondering, me especially. So I asked Elvis about it and he answered that his hair looked like shit that day and he didn’t want to go out in public with his hair looking like that so he grabbed the turban and jammed it on his head as he was leaving his house to come visit us.
We, however, are not wondering why he showed up in a turban. The reason is simple--it looked awesome! Especially with the large rings and necklace he chose to compliment the ensemble. The ring eventually is given by Elvis to Marty Lacker, one of his oldest friends and co-best man at Elvis' wedding. The accompanying Elvis Presley Museum "Certificate of Authenticity" is signed by Marty Lacker and Jimmy Velvet and reads in part "Elvis gave this unique ring to Marty Lacker, one of Elvis' close griends and longtime bodyguard. I acquired this ring from Marty in the 1980's, and I believe this ring or a similar one was worn by Elvis during some o fhis concerts in the early 70's." Jimmy Velvet, of course, assembled a legendary collection of Elvis Presley's jewelry, clothing, cars and other personal affects and memorabilia starting in the late 1970s. Jimmy was way ahead of the curve in acquiring an amount of material so vast he started his museum. He has always been an excellent source of Elvis Presley owned items.
The size 9 ring weighs 28.25 grams and is marked "14K" on the inner band. The two small diamonds are mounted as the Pharaoh's eyes and the blue sapphire mounted in the head piece measures 4 x 2 mm in size. The ring shows signs of moderate wear but no serious distresses. Near Mint condition.