The music genre has been defined as much by diamond-encrusted watches and platinum chains as its gritty urban lyrics. But in the last couple of years, it has scaled down its flash, a trend insiders say has become more pronounced during the recent recession. Make no mistake: The industry that made an urban household name out of New York's Jacob “Jacob the Jeweler” Arabov isn't entirely reversing course. But “the day of conspicuous consumption is gone,” says Tamara Connor, an Atlanta-based stylist who has created looks for chart-topping rappers, including Lil Wayne. “We're still going to see some bling, but it's just not going to be as much,” Connor says. “Instead of four diamond necklaces, it might just be a diamond bracelet, and it's a piece the celebrity wears all the time. They're not changing their jewelry out everyday.” Photo shoots, for example, are being done with fewer of the specialized medallions considered a calling card for the likes of Rick Ross, whose chain with a likeness of his head, complete with black diamond beard, has an estimated value of $30,000. “You can save $3,000 a carat if you do non-ring quality diamonds for studs (earrings),” Connor notes. Ben Baller, head of Los Angeles-based jeweler I.F. and amp; Co., says the shift is most pronounced among up-and-coming rappers, for whom a steady income is seeming like less of a sure thing. Rap sales have declined along with the rest of the music industry. “Some people (are) even wanting to mix diamonds with cubics (cubic zirconia) so it would not be completely ungenuine.” Cost cutting is major for the industry in which the carat-weight of one's ring could carry more cache than record sales. Ostentatious fashion has been in hip-hop's DNA since Slick Rick donned layers of opulent gold chains in the ‘80s. Rappers aren't giving up glamour altogether, they're just not wearing it 24-7. In the past, several chains were de rigueur for a grocery-store run, now they're reserved for a show or nightclub, says Baller, who also is seeing more artists trading in old chains instead of buying new ones.
