Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Rings. Sixburgh Ring
•Each ring weighs 3.7 ounces
•Each ring contains 63 diamonds that equal 3.61 carats
•The face features six big diamonds, one for each Steelers Super Bowl win
•Seven smaller diamonds at the top represent the Steelers' seven conference championships
•Seven more at the bottom represent the Steelers' 14 divisional titles

Six round brilliants that stand for six Super Bowl victories, 14 diamonds that signify the Steelers' division titles. Like all Super Bowl rings, this one relies on symbols to give it greater meaning.

Although the Lombardi Trophy is produced by Tiffany & Co., Super Bowl rings are designed and made by companies that compete each year for the honor.

Tim Larson, president and chief executive officer of Jostens, which was awarded the contract, describes a Super Bowl ring as "the chance to tell the story of the season." He and his staff begin brainstorming design concepts during the weeks leading up to the game, developing ideas for both teams.

The scale of the Steelers' fifth ring, in 2005, is fairly large, even by Super Bowl standards, but its design, with five diamond Lombardi trophies on a black ground, seems relatively sober compared to, say, the Colts' blue horseshoe on a field of diamonds the following year.

Nearly all the rings from the last 10 years are on a jumbo scale and thick with diamonds ' the seemingly inexorable outcome of persistent one-upmanship, compounded by popular taste ratcheted higher by celebrities like Jay-Z and Diddy.

With the Steelers' enormous new ring, which goes the Patriots' one bigger by a millimeter, the team has taken a notion that started out subliminal and brought it into daylight: the Super Bowl ring as personal portable trophy.

"The design tells the story of the team's effort," Charlie Anderson, a Jostens designer, said, "as opposed to other jewelry, where you make decisions based on what's attractive."