Playboi Carti fans have been blessed with plenty of new music and visuals lately. And while we obviously can't wait for his new album to drop, the videos posted on his @opium_00pium finsta page have also given us a glimpse at how Carti is dressing these days. Pieces like Hood By Air hockey jerseys, leather dunce caps from Shayne Oliver’s Anonymous Club, Junya Watanabe dresses, and Pelle Pelle leathers are the statement pieces from his current style era. But have you seen all of the amazing jewelry he’s been rocking to go with them?
The creations come courtesy of Atlanta’s Jewelry Unlimited, a shop in one of hip-hop’s most important cities that has become a go-to for big names like Future, Latto, and, of course, Playboi Carti.
“[Carti is] very meticulous with what he puts out there,” says Jewelry Unlimited owner Wafi Lalani. “He'll throw ideas at me constantly. He's thinking so fast that maybe only 30% of the ideas actually materialize. It has to be feasible. It has to make sense in price. It has to look right. But he definitely has an eye for design.”
Lalani says that he and Carti connected for the first time back around 2018. The first custom pieces that he made for him were necklaces with various baguette cut diamonds. But it's his newer custom pieces that have been turning heads, like an Antagonist cross designed with tattoo artist SEX IS DEATH that features 300 grams of 18k white gold and 32 carats of VVS natural diamonds. More recently, he unveiled one of the craziest pieces, a multicolored version of the cross that consisted of natural rubies, emeralds, opals, aquamarines, amethysts, and citrines.
By now, you've likely seen the video of Carti flaunting a Chrome Hearts belt buckle flooded out with 11 carats of VS diamonds, full set emerald-cut grills featuring 29.75 carats of diamonds, and a giant 5.07 carat diamond ring in the backseat of a car as Biggie "Who Shot Ya?" blasts from the speakers. That was all from Jewelry Unlimited. While Lalani can't reveal specific pricing information, all of Carti's pieces are done in the highest quality, so you can assume this stuff isn't cheap.
"Everything he does is top notch, VVS+ diamonds. So they're all expensive pieces," says Lalani.
The standout of the bunch has been the Opium watch, a Rolex Datejust customized with an oxidized white gold overlay and 3 carats of VVS diamonds on the dial to represent Carti's record label. The unique overlay design was also designed by SEX IS DEATH. When it comes to how Carti has been debuting his custom jewels, there isn't some elaborate rollout plan. Lalani is seeing how he decided to style his pieces at the same time we are.
“It's fun to see what he decided to wear,” says Lalani about seeing his creations appear in Carti’s videos. “It’s cool to see it as part of an outfit. And everything he puts out has so much attention on it.”
Lalani talks more about his history with Carti and the history of Jewelry Unlimited, below.
You’ve been doing a lot of work with Playboi Carti. How did you two initially connect?
That's a good question. I think I was like 2018 or 2019. I remember him just popping up at the store. I think he had just heard about me in the city and he decided to pop up. I didn’t know much about him at the time. But he's a good person—good vibes. Quavo was in the store, too, that day, and they knew each other pretty well.
What was the first piece you made for him?
We were dealing a lot with baguettes, making necklaces with different styles of baguette diamonds. We were really infatuated with that at the time. He bought a bunch of those. Then he asked me to make bigger ones. That went into him asking for upside-down crosses with baguettes for his team. That might have been the first project where he ordered like five or six. He still buys those even today, for the team and his people around him.
How involved is he in the process? Is he bringing you a super specific idea and then you're just executing it? Are you guys kind of bouncing ideas off of each other to get to the final product?
He's very meticulous with what he puts out there. He'll throw ideas at me constantly. He's thinking so fast that maybe only 30% of the ideas actually materialize. It has to be feasible. It has to make sense in price. It has to look right. But he definitely has an eye for design.
For example, the cross that I recently made for him, he had his tattoo artist mock it up and he showed it to me. I was like, ‘This is the one. That’s gonna look crazy.’ I have the eye to be able to see a design and see if it can be made into a piece of jewelry that would be special.
But he is very selective about what he wants to make and what he wants to put out. There's a lot of pieces of jewelry that I’ve made for him that I don't post.
Is that Antagonist cross the most meticulous piece you’ve done for him?
We're working on a few projects right now that are even more complicated. But I think that is the most detailed piece that we posted, for sure. That watch too. That was just me saying, ‘I wanna make this watch. Just let me make it and if you like it, you like it. If you don't like it, I'll figure it out.’ I just had the confidence that he would like it, which he did. That was also a very detailed project. It was very tough to do that, to take a Rolex and just completely reform it.
Yeah, a lot of people got excited about that one. So that was a Rolex that you used?
Yeah. Each link was crafted as a separate piece. A factory Rolex tapers in size. So each of the links had to have its own measurement of a piece made that would perfectly fit on top of it. Everything that encapsulates the original case was made as separate pieces, maybe like 70 different components.
How did you create that overlay and what material was it?
It was white gold, but the key was to give it an antique-looking finish. It's called oxidation. The oxidation of the metal through a process is what gives it that dark, dingy feel to it. It's not the high polish, shiny chrome that you're used to seeing on most watches and jewelry. I had to send it off to a specialist factory that does that work.
It all bounced off the idea of the cross. The cross came first, and we did the same type of oxidation on that. There wasn’t much room to set diamonds on [the watch] so they are just on the dial.
Is that the only one, or were they made for all of the Opium artists?
Just him, but he has the intention of making a few more for his artists.
The watch seems so intricate. How long did it take to complete that project?
The designing aspect took like six months because of the trial and error involved, and working on other projects at the time. It wasn't really a time-sensitive piece, so we took our time with it. So six months because it was the first time we really did something like that. Anybody can just put diamonds on a watch. We can do that in like two weeks.
I also wanted to ask you about the full set of grills you made for him.
The necklace that was on the post we had made a couple of years ago. He just wanted it made into rose gold. That’s one of those pieces that he didn't want me to post at the time. It was about two years ago. Now that he’s releasing his album soon, I guess he's more inclined to have things posted.
The grill is all emerald cuts, larger diamonds that you usually don't see put in grills, and it's completely invisibly set so it looks like the diamonds are just held by nothing. I think Travis [Scott] has a pair like that too.
And the Chrome Hearts buckle you did for him.
He posts very little of the jewelry he buys, but I think he really enjoyed that one. It is an original Chrome Hearts belt buckle, and then we just iced it out with diamonds. A little excessive. [Laughs.]
I'm looking at the video right now, and we actually made all those rings too. The one that was custom made was the one on his index finger, which again has the same vibes as the cross.
What is the most expensive pieces that you've created for Carti?
His most expensive pieces are not even ones that we customize. Tennis chains can get very expensive depending on the size of the diamonds. He has a few really big diamond sizes that we had made for stock that he ended up purchasing. He’s bought a Richard Mille. That’s pretty pricey. But everything he does is top notch, VVS+ diamonds. So they're all expensive pieces. I don't know if I’m at liberty to say pricing, but the tennis chains get close to half a million dollars a piece on the largest ones.
Carti has been putting out all these videos leading up to his new album. We've seen a lot of the pieces shown off in these videos. Does he tell you when he’s going to debut them, or is it a surprise to you?
It just kind of happens. I don't even think he plans it out like that. It's just whatever he decided to wear that day. He can also just wear no jewelry. That's kind of his flex. He doesn’t need jewelry to attract attention.
So do you have any type of reaction when you see your pieces in these videos?
It's fun to see what he decided to wear. It’s cool to see it part of an outfit. And everything he puts out has so much attention on it. I remember one time he bought a chain for YoungBoy. The amount of interactions on that post was like 10 times more than what I'm used to.
How did you get your start in the jewelry industry?
My father had a small kiosk in the middle of the mall in the early 2000s. We moved here in 2000 and my dad had to buy a business. He just chose to buy a jewelry store. I used to help him out, and then I started selling jewelry online.
When did you start Jewelry Unlimited and get the shop you have now?
The company [name] has been the same since the beginning. I started working with hip-hop artists and stuff in 2017. My focus was always online, but there's a limit to what you can sell online. When you get into the higher-end items, people are not comfortable buying online. So we started our retail presence and it grew from there.
At what point do you start doing custom work?
That's kind of why we started the retail presence, people wanting custom jewelry. There's been a surge of [custom jewelry]. They don't just want to buy off the rack anymore. Everyone wants their logo or their initials or whatever it might be.
Is that the biggest portion of your business today?
I think if I were to put a number on it, I would say like 30 percent of our business is custom. We're one of the jewelry stores that actually hold a lot of inventory. So a lot of people use us when they need something. They can just come in and know that we have nice stuff to choose from. A necklace, bracelet, or watch doesn’t generally need to be customized.
What is your approach to the custom projects?
I have a staff of maybe 20 that are here helping out. I personally take on the larger projects and the celebrity projects. I would not decline a project. It would just end up taking longer. I have my staff that will help me out if I'm overwhelmed. I’m taking on as many projects as I can.
In general, what’s the most expensive piece you’ve made?
The tennis chains with large pink diamonds or whatever might be the case. They get up to $1 million. There's been a handful of seven-digit pieces we've made. Customers like Future and Gervonta Davis spend a lot of money. So does Carti.
What’s the craziest turnaround you’ve had for a custom project?
I'm a perfectionist. I've had projects done and I completely scrapped them to start over. Just last year there was a necklace I built for Latto that I wasn't very happy with. Without even getting her consent, I melted it down and remade it. Obviously, they're a little disappointed, but in the grander scheme of things they understand and are happy. It costs me a lot more to do. But these are relatively expensive pieces of jewelry, so I try to get it right and retain the customer forever.
What was the piece?
It was a 777 necklace, and it was a cross with a pink diamond in the middle. I didn't like the way the necklace laid. So I scrapped it and had it remade.
Latto and Cardi B filmed some of their “Put it on Da Floor” video at your shop. How was that experience?
It was cool. I remember I was in the store with Key Glock at the time, and I got a call from Latto's manager and she was like, “Hey, we wanna use your store for a potential video shoot.” It was hush hush that Cardi B was on there. I consider my customers as friends, and they're probably better at marketing than I am. So I asked Key Glock if it was a good look and he's like, ‘You gotta do that shit.’ [Laughs.] That was like three days before [the shoot]. It didn't take much because we just had to have the store closed for a few hours. It was definitely good publicity for us.
I didn't realize how much went into a shoot. It was like 50–60 people here, and I only have a 2,000 square foot store. There were trailers set up outside and stuff like that. But it all went well. I’ve worked with Latta and Cardi for a long time. So it was a no-brainer to help.
You're based in Atlanta. That seems like the perfect city to be in because of the rich hip-hop culture there. Who was your first big client in the rap world?
Rich the Kid. We had a mutual friend, and he came to the store and purchased a few chains. He was best friends with the Migos at the time, and he told them about me. That's when I started doing custom work. I just made a few pieces for them—the YRN logo or the Migo Gang logo. It went from them to the whole QC [Quality Control Music] camp including P, who's the CEO, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, who has a strong affection for jewelry, the City Girls. Migos and QC really was the springboard for me working with artists.
You said you weren’t always doing custom work. Was it hard to learn that aspect of the business?
Custom work was not so prevalent in the jewelry world until recently. The manufacturing capabilities have made the custom projects more streamlined. It was a very one-off type thing for us. We always took custom orders but to be able to streamline it from conception to production in a month was the challenging part. I purchased a factory that had the tools to streamline that process. That was a big precursor for the growth of my custom business.
Is there a custom piece that you're most proud of?
I'm more excited about the pieces that we're building right now. I'm always trying to push the envelope. So I think the ones that I'm most proud of haven't been finished yet. And it might be the same answer next year. [Laughs.]
What are your goals looking forward to 2024 and beyond?
Just to stay busy and keep pushing the envelope. There's plenty of great jewelers in the business that keep us on our toes, so my goal is always to not get complacent.
There's pieces that I'm working on now that will break the Internet when we post them.
