Trick Williams and the Two Letters He Never Takes Off

“I wrestle all my matches in that same chain.”

For most people, a chain is the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. For Trick Williams, it’s part of the uniform. The WWE star wears his pavé-set “TW” monogram pendant on a Cuban link chain into the ring, under the lights and through every match. When he came to the Icebox flagship in Atlanta, that chain got a deep clean, and the two letters on it got a second home.

Why a monogram is the hardest custom piece to get right

A monogram looks simple: two letters, a few hundred stones. It’s one of the most demanding requests a custom jeweler takes on, because the piece has three jobs at once.

• It has to read from a distance. Letter thickness, spacing and stone size decide whether “TW” is legible from across a room or blurs into a glittering shape.
• It has to hold its shape on a heavy chain. A pendant that twists, flips or hangs crooked loses the whole point of a signature.
• It has to be wearable all day. Weight, edges and how the back sits against the body matter as much as how the front looks.

That’s why the most important decisions on a monogram are made before any gold is poured.

How a signature piece is built

Custom pieces at Icebox follow the same path from idea to finished jewelry:

1. The model. Designs start as 3D-printed resin models, where letter shapes, proportions and stone layouts can be checked and adjusted while changes are still easy.
2. Casting. In lost-wax casting, the model is encased in investment and burned out, and the cavity it leaves is filled with molten gold.
3. Finishing. The cast piece is cut from its sprue, then sawn, filed and cleaned up by hand at the bench.
4. Setting. Under magnification, a setter seats each small round stone one at a time and secures it with prongs.

Every choice from the model stage carries through to the finished piece. A letter that’s too thin at the model stage stays too thin in gold.

From chest to waist

Williams’ signature didn’t stay on the pendant. At Icebox, he opened a box to find a white leather belt fitted with an oversized “TW” buckle in pavé-set stones, matching the letters he already wears on his chain. He fastened it over his white ring gear, added the fur and shades, and gave his verdict: “It fits perfect.”

The buckle makes sense once you hear how he thinks about his entrance. He asked for horns at the top of his theme music “so it feels like royalty is walking into the room,” with bass and 808 drums underneath to make it feel like hip-hop. The buckle does the same job in metal and stone. It’s built to be read from the back row the moment he walks out.

Choosing pieces that match your frame

Statement pieces are about proportion as much as sparkle. While at Icebox, Williams tried a white Cuban-style band on his pinky and a pavé Cuban link bracelet on his wrist, judging each against his build before deciding. A larger frame can carry more width. A piece that looks bold in a photo can look small on a big hand, and the reverse. Trying it on your own body tells you more than any photo.

What anyone who wears their jewelry hard can learn

• Clean it on a schedule. Sweat, lotion and everyday grime build up around settings and links. A professional cleaning brings back the shine and gives a jeweler a chance to inspect the piece.
• Have the settings checked. Jewelry worn during sports or performances takes impacts. A quick look at prongs and clasps can catch a loose stone before it’s lost.
• Tell your jeweler how you’ll wear it. If a piece is going on stage, into the ring or onto the field, say so at the start. It affects the construction, the clasp and how the piece sits.

For cleaning, inspections and repairs, see Icebox Care & Repair. To see more pieces from the archive, visit Celebrity Jewelry, or browse men’s pendants.

Watch the full visit

See Trick Williams’ full visit to Icebox on our YouTube channel.