Any old jerk can wear a fancy ring, but how many people can say their bling was made from materials that once flew at mach 3.2+ on the famed Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane? Now that’s some provenance.


But before you fly off in a rage over the remaining SR-71 spy planes being sold off piece-by-piece for scrap, that’s not quite how this custom piece of jewelry from Wedgewood Rings came to be. The titanium outer band is actually from the ejector nozzle of a Blackbird, and was sourced from a retired Air Force machinist named Dan Freeman who repaired and maintained the spy planes during their heyday.


So while the titanium metal portion of this ring did fly on the SR-71 Blackbird at one point, you won’t find the remaining planes, currently on display in museums across the country, full of holes and missing parts.

The inner wood portion of this ring also has an interesting backstory. It’s made from teak, but teak that was reclaimed from the deck of the USS North Carolina which served in every Pacific naval battle in World War II. The decommissioned ship now serves as a museum and memorial in Wilmington, North Carolina, but not before its deck was completely replaced and the original teak lumber was made available to the public.

So, want one of your own? Wedgewood has already made a few custom rings using the teak from the USS North Carolina, but you’ll need to source the SR-71 titanium parts yourself, which, apparently isn’t as difficult as it sounds.

[Wedgewood Rings via Notcot]