The 2009 Montreal Centennial Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/24/2009
Grey Cup victory, represented here in shimmering diamonds and glittering gold. The 75th Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship game was played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Toronto Argonauts. The Eskies defeated the Argo 38-36, on Jerry Kauric's last second field-goal. James Bell walked out onto the BC Place field after the victory to celebrate with his former teammates. Bell, whose career ended the previous season when he sustained a spinal cord injury during a game against the Lions in the very same stadium, had been confined to a wheel chair. Doctors said he would never walk again but James was determined to prove them wrong and walked across the field on Grey Cup day under his own steam. The team, motivated by Bells struggle, wore special number 17
bell-shaped patches on their uniforms throughout the 1987 Championship season and when it came time to give out the Grey Cup rings, the team paid tribute to James by presenting him with a ring for his contributions and inspiration on and off the field. This massive ring, presented to James Bell, weighs in at a hefty 46.3 grams of gold and fourteen substantially-size real diamonds fill the double-E Eskimos logo on the table, ringed by the words Edmonton Eskimos, Grey Cup Champions. One shank has an enameled helmet (some paint loss) with inscribed Bell and DB 17 while the opposite side displays an image of the Grey Cup over 75 with the year (87) and the games final score (Eskimos 38, Argos 36). Because this giant ring was resized, to its current size 10.5, the karat stamping and makers mark are now impossible to read. But we give our assurances that this ring was produced by Balfour and ordered by the team to be presented to James Bell. In excellent condition, apart from the wear to the raised enameling on the helmet design.
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