Krista Henry and Kandre MacDonald, Staff Reporters

Sean Paul shows his 'SP' pendant as he arrives at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Signature jewels seem to be the latest dancehall trend, with various artistes trying to 'outbling' the other.

Shining, blinding bling has captured the attention of screaming, fawning fans across the globe. And like international rap artistes, local dancehall acts are cashing in on signature bling.

Sean Paul has his signature 'SP' pendant, while Baby Cham has a 'Cham' pendant, as well as other pieces, for example.

Marc Johnson, publicist at Shocking Vibes, says "a lot of artistes who ought to be blinging are not really doing so because they don't have a signature piece. What they need to do is visit the jeweller and sit with him and work on the piece, not visit a jewellery store and purchase a piece that everyone else has. It is the cut that makes the piece interesting, and not the amount of diamond it contains."

Indeed the King of the Dancehall Beenie Man is also the king of bling. 'The Doctor' paid an undisclosed huge sum for his and D'Angel's platinum and diamond wedding rings. As he stated, "It cost whole heap, mi can't even think bout it". At his recent wedding he could be seen sporting canary diamond rings and a matching bracelet.

Part of life

For Elephant Man, jewellery is a part of life. He said, "Jewellery is necessary, especially as an artiste coming up. It help yuh keep a certain look an' show di people dem that yuh putting yuh money to use. As an artiste yuh cannot have regular jewellery. Mi have platinum in my mouth an' a big ole chain. Yuh haffi have something that builds yuh image, as it is very important that yuh mek people know sey sumting a gwaan. Mi usually spen' about US$5,000 for a chain before mi custom it."

Young acts try to create their own unique styles, such as Mavado who sports a Movado watch and numerous items in rose gold. "I have straight rose gold, everything. It cost a whole heap of money. It's not really seh the bling ting is important; it's all about the image. You haffi look good. Mi nuh have no signature jewellery, but mi watch a Movado. Mi caan boder wid the chain that mark Mavado, mi nuh like the excitement," he said.

Images can be deceiving, despite having a blinging name, Bling Dawg is anything but. He says, "'Bling' Dawg is more about the work; whatever I'm doing I must glow and ting. I do wear jewellery. I don't like the big jewellery, I like the small ones you can hardly see, but it's more expensive than the big ones. It's all about the image. If you are an artiste people have it in their head you must look a way. If I go somewhere and don't have a chain or something, people are going to say that's not Bling Dawg. If you're a Ras now then people not looking for it."

And what about the women? Spice explains, "Definitely image is important. As an artiste you haffi look good, so people will say how dat girl look good. You have to differentiate yourself from the crowd. Image is everything; everyone is grabbing for their own image. I think the male bling is cute, a form of enrichment, I like the bling thing. But I don't think they're outdoing the females wid jewellery. I don't expect females to be wearing three chains, we're more classic."