the dracula rings

[moonvisage]

I have a few questions,regarding the different dracula rings around.the first is about the Forrest J Ackerman ring.

1: Has the Forrest J Ackerman dracula ring actually been released yet? I am asking this,because i cannot find any reference to it apart from in this forum and a few other sites,and no place that mentions it has stocked it,or does stock it. ( I would like to buy it ).

The other question,is regarding the Official Christopher Lee dracula ring.

 The official christopher lee site says the following about the ring they sell:

'' This will probably be the ONLY chance you may get to own one as they are no longer in production.
 
This is the ONLY ring which has been made from the ORIGINAL mould and is an exact copy of classic Universal Pictures Dracula Ring, worn by Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi and of course, Mr. Lee. It is exactly the same as Mr. Lee's and was produced by Robert Shomer, who is the present copyright owner of the design.
 
The metal used is silver. It has an adjustable band with fits all finger sizes.
 
The ring comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, giving the full story of the ring.
 
Note: This item may take 15 days to ship due to high demand. The box is for illustration purposes only.
 
Price: £49.99 ''

 2: Is the above information true? It is as if the christopher lee site is saying that the Forrest J Ackerman ring was not made from the original mould.

3:  I have seen two pictures of the christopher lee dracula ring,and they only look like the very front seal design has been replicated,and not any part of the band. Is this the case?

 a few pictures of the rings in question:

1: christopher lee ring ( i am not sure if the two rings are the same ).



2: bela lugosi ring




 

[moonvisage]

I do apologise.the christopher lee pictures do not seem to have shown.I will try again.







  I do not personally own either ring myself,so i have had to use pictures obtained from the internet.I am planning on buying the christopher lee dracula ring.

[BARON TIMOTHEUS BGG]

Dear MOONVISAGE,
... My understanding is, that, the Copyright, on the original UNIVERSAL DRACULA ring, is held by RICHARD SHEFFIELD & another Gentleman {? ROBERT SHOMER ?}, as UNIVERSAL did not copyright the design.
... FORRY owned it, via his friendship, with BELA LUGOSI & RICHARD SHEFFIELD, and, loaned it, as the story goes, to CHRISTOPHER LEE, and, he wore it, in his HAMMER DRACULA Films.
... I purchased, from RICHARD SHEFFIELD, directly, the last copy, from the original striking, at THE MONSTER BASH, in AD 2007, when I performed, both, my STOKER Speeches, from DRACULA, &, THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER'S Final soliloquy, from MARY SHELLEY'S Novel.
... I'll pass this thread along to the LUGOSIPHILIA Group, where RICHARD is an Esteemed Member, for full verification... Otherwise, FORRY'S & LEE'S Versions, are one & the same.
EXANIMO EVERNOW,
TIMMY & THE BARON & THE COUNT & FRIENDS, GOO-O-OODD-D!, B.G.G.

[Toy Ranch]

This is the Qmx recreation of the ring Forry owns. 



This is the packaging



This is the copy of the same ring that Richard Sheffield has been selling.



This is Forry's original.


The ring was worn by Lugosi in House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

[Wolf Man]

This is some awesome information.  I appreciate all those who posted this.  I have just ordered the ring myself and am looking forward to getting it.  Love the photos.  I am having it shipped here to Iraq so I will at least have one cool prop with me for a bit.  I will probably take it home with me on R&R in December. 

[Nicole]

The Dracula ring is pretty cool. I wish I knew what version of the ring Mojica has. His doesn't quite match any of those.



Even the band looks different:



Anyone have any idea?

[moonvisage]

Thank you so very much for all the incredibly helpful replies.It looks to me,now the ring information and pictures have been condensed into 3 posts,a lot easier to see and know who had made and released each individual ring.
 From this simplified thread,the information has stopped all confusion for me,and judging by wolfman's wonderful post,wolfman also.
 From what i see,the following is now essential knowledge to me

1: The universal QMX forrest j ackerman bela lugosi dracula ring has a red stone backing.

2: the christopher lee robert shomer dracula ring has a black stone backing.

3: the richard sheffield dracula ring has no stone backing.

 Now all i have to do is try and buy the christopher lee dracula ring,and spend the next few years,waiting for the QMX dracula ring to pop up on ebay.
 Once again,thank you all so very much for being so kind and considerate,as to condense all the vital information and pictures into 3 condensed post,and,of course,replying to my many questions.I deeply and eternally appreciate it.
 It is very unfortunate,but it does seem the christopher lee dracula ring is the only dracula ring available at present.
 As i am typing,wolfman and nicole have replied,so i am trying to update every time i click to post this reply I have never seen that ring nicole,so i cannot help you i'm afraid.

[Toy Ranch]

This is very interesting...

http://www.christopherleeweb.com/catalog/movie-props/dracula-ring

This will probably be the ONLY chance you may get to own one as they are no longer in production.
 
This is the ONLY ring which has been made from the ORIGINAL mould and is an exact copy of classic Universal Pictures Dracula Ring, worn by Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi and of course, Mr. Lee. It is exactly the same as Mr. Lee's and was produced by Robert Shomer, who is the present copyright owner of the design.
 
The metal used is silver. It has an adjustable band with fits all finger sizes.
 
The ring comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, giving the full story of the ring.
 
Note: This item may take 15 days to ship due to high demand. The box is for illustration purposes only.
 
Price: £49.99





So we have Richard Sheffield, who was given the ring by Bela Lugosi claiming copyright ownership.

Richard gave it to Forry, who allowed Qmx to reproduce it (and signed a COA stating that it was the ring Bela wore in the original Dracula, which is not the case.  However I think this is what Forry believed and he wasn't trying to deceive anyone).  As far as I'm aware, Qmx didn't license anything through Richard Sheffield. 

And now this (British?) fellow named Robert Shomer who claims to own the copyright, and produced a ring with a black background, and says it's an "exact copy" although it has a black background??? 

There have been numerous "exact" copies of this ring over the years.  I've seen the original ring before, in person, and I own the Qmx ring.  Here are all of them side by side.  What do you think?  I'm only seeing one exact copy here.

[Monster Bob]

The Dracula ring is pretty cool. I wish I knew what version of the ring Mojica has. His doesn't quite match any of those.



Even the band looks different:



Anyone have any idea?

Coffin Joe's ring looks like a jeweler-made silver base, made to accomodate a Famous Monsters-sold "Dracula Ring Pin", which was cast off of Forry's original. They were sold in FM for $49.95 I think, as I bought one. It would be easy to remove the pin/holder and insert it into the setting and fold over the little tabs that surround the ring's setting to hold it in. It looks like most of the gold plating has worn off.

Oh...and note the silver bracelet. Lots of jewelers/silversmiths and lots of silver produced 'down south'. I'm sure he has a jeweler friend.

[Wolf Man]

I agree with Toy Ranch, there appears to be only one good copy.  The one being sold on Mr. Lee's website however may be the only one available at the moment so I thought it would be a cool one to pick up.

The cost in US funds by the way it 85.00 including the shipping.  I will try and post some photos once it arrives to help out others considering the purchase. 

[Toy Ranch]

I agree with Toy Ranch, there appears to be only one good copy.  The one being sold on Mr. Lee's website however may be the only one available at the moment so I thought it would be a cool one to pick up.

The cost in US funds by the way it 85.00 including the shipping.  I will try and post some photos once it arrives to help out others considering the purchase. 

I'd be very interested in seeing a good closeup of that ring.  It looks like it has more detail than Forry's original, which means either it was enhanced, or more likely it's made from an earlier cast. Silver is soft and it wears down. 

Here's a listing from today on Craigslist.
http://orlando.craigslist.org/clt/891357893.html


This is Dimensional Designs.  Yet another one... 
http://www.dimensionaldesigns.com/crofdrri.html

[Nicole]

Coffin Joe's ring looks like a jeweler-made silver base, made to accomodate a Famous Monsters-sold "Dracula Ring Pin", which was cast off of Forry's original. They were sold in FM for $49.95 I think, as I bought one. It would be easy to remove the pin/holder and insert it into the setting and fold over the little tabs that surround the ring's setting to hold it in. It looks like most of the gold plating has worn off.

Oh...and note the silver bracelet. Lots of jewelers/silversmiths and lots of silver produced 'down south'. I'm sure he has a jeweler friend.

Thank you for the info, Bob. If this is true, this changes what little I thought I knew about the history of Mojica's ring. Now you have me intrigued.

By the way, he is wearing a watch in that photo, not a bracelet. The watch is a modern piece that was sold by an online gothic jewelry store. You can't make it out well from the photo, but the covering over the watch face is actually a skull.

[moonvisage]

I have just been to www.christopherleeweb.com  and bought the dracula ring.it cost me £60.32 with VAT and postage.

[Monster Bob]

Point being that the ring and the "crest" look to be different metals, and it would be super easy for a jeweler to make a silver ring to hold the FM pin.

Here is the plated pin in unused shape-



The lower pic is my wedding ring, hand made in 14kt by a Hispanic jeweler I know (my design), just to show what is possible. The gold 'bats' ring would be much tougher to make.

[HARRY HAMMOCK]

I had one of the pins made into a ring by a jewler in N.C. and got  the Real Dracula crest(Vlad) ring off ebay years ago