Mr. Michael Lynch contacted me a few months ago wanting a world class championship belt that a world champion was going to be proud to wear. He also wanted a belt that he was going to be proud to call his. After a few days of talk and different designs we finally agreed to a design that we thought was going to be a killer, and a killer it was. I began the production process like I make most of my belts. I printed out the final copy on paper and laid it out flat.
This belt was going to be very different from any other belt. Most of my belts are made out of white metal which is very strong and almost unbreakable. This belt was going to be so strong that if you threw it out of a 15 story building, you would only scratch the gold plating, that’s it! This belt was also going to be thicker than all MMA and Wrestling style belts normally awarded to champions. This belt was going to have a new school look but an old school production, all made in the U.S.A and the factory in New Jersey. I have decided that this belt was going to be made out of copper. Yes that’s right, copper, a very expensive metal and not normally used in belt making since it’s so expensive. All belt makers try to avoid copper because they don’t make much money if they use this material. The copper color is usually a pinkish color.
After the copper etching was done, we had to polish and wax, polish and wax, polish and wax. Yes, I did mention this 100X over and over because if you want this belt to be very shiny with a “bling blingy” look, it must be polished for a few days. Yes, a few days. The polishing process took about 72 hours of work. Next we had to drill holes where we wanted diamonds to go. This was done very carefully since you want all the diamonds to be 100% even. Since the copper material is so strong, the drilling process was a bit difficult but with a lot of dedication it was completed. Next we had to design a special leather strap to accommodate the plates. The designing alone for the leather strap took about two days of work, 48 hours. We put the blind nuts and screws where we think would hold the plates strong to the strap but at the same time, we want to hide the screws from being seen in the front. Instead of your basic leather backing, we used high quality fur. If you use leather like most MMA belts, you will see and feel the nuts and bolts in the back and when you wear it, it’s not too comfortable. So, if you use fur, and wear the belt, it’s like heaven. It’s so comfortable you can almost fall asleep in the middle of the ring. We used real high quality leather for this belt and we have also decided that we are going to use black leather. It makes the diamonds and the gold plating stand out much more with a black background. We also went with Velcro instead of your basic snaps. We used Velcro because it’s quicker to put on when you’re in the ring.
Next, we had to gold plate the plates after we are done with the polishing of the plates. In our factory we have an 18K gold plating setup and that is what we used. The reason we used 18K is because it’s dark so it looks good but at the same time it’s not too dark like 24k, so it’s much shinier when you see it in the ring. We think this is the perfect choice for the gold plating.
After the gold plating is completely done, we put the diamonds on the plates. Once that’s complete we hand paint the medallions where we think would look good. The paint takes 24 hours to dry. There are over 500 diamonds on this belt, if not more. The next day, we put the plates together with the leather strap and bolt them together.
Although I explained the making of this belt in just a few pages, the making of this belt took over 150 hours of hard, old school labor. The final step is my favorite. I get to be the 1st one to wear this world class championship belt. When I put it on, it’s like I’m on cloud 9. The fur on this belt is so comfortable, it’s almost like being inside a Bentley. (Not that I have ever been in one but I’m sure it’s the same feeling.) I know that it’s hard for someone to REALLY appreciate the belt if they weren’t the ones that put the hard labor in making it but I just want the champion of any belt we make to know that they really should appreciate it because not only have they worked their entire life’s to win this belt but so did we. Enjoy.
By: Johnny Najjar /Company: Masis Boxing Belt
source: http://www.gowamma.com/wamma_championship_belt.asp
