Origin of the Jim Skull

More than forty years after my great uncle first carved it, the JIM SKULL is still made the same way: by hand, one ring at a time.
The Story

The Jim Skull

The original JIM SKULL ring was designed by my great uncle back in the late 1970s.

In the early 1990s, a good friend of ours — the famous NYC tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw — brought Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop and Jim Jarmusch into the shop, all together, in search of a ring they could all wear to signify their friendship: the Death Is Certain crew. Jim Jarmusch was instantly drawn to a medium-sized flat top skull ring sitting on the shelf — now known as the JIM SKULL.

The insanity around the ring took off after Johnny Depp started being photographed wearing it all the time, and Iggy Pop put it on the cover of his album Skull Ring.

The Custom Versions

Around 1998 we made a couple of custom versions of the JIM SKULL ring for Johnny Depp and Jim Jarmusch. Johnny’s had three diamonds in the forehead and ruby eyes, with a gold number 3 and a question mark on either side. Jim Jarmusch’s had gold lightning bolts on the sides, with gold in the eyes and nose.

Over the years I’ve made other personal items and special pieces for the Death Is Certain crew — like the Property of JD pill box, the eyeball pendant, as well as the new NEVER FEAR TRUTH JIM SKULL.