Introducing The Jeweler Who Designs $25K Bling For Kanye West, Drake, Nas, Mariah Carey And Rita Ora

By Elena Lopez (Elena.Lopez@mstarsnews.com) | Oct 07, 2014 12:35 PM EDT

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Ben Baller, Korean-American jeweler to the stars, has a long list of clients. According to The Hollywood Reporter, his client list reads like a Billboard Top Hits chart, including artists like: Kanye West, Drake, Nas, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Snoop Dogg, The Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Odd Future, ASAP Rocky, Joel Madden and Rita Ora. "It's a pretty long list," the music executive-turned-custom jeweler says, while naming just a few celebrity clients, who pay at least $25,000 for his designs.

Prior to becoming a jeweler, Baller worked as a producer for Dr. Dre at Priority Records and later at Aftermath Entertainment. "I felt like I was successful, with my credits and certain accolades, but I still worked for other people," he says. "Whatever success I had, it wasn't mine. I had bigger aspirations."

Baller's passion for jewelry apparently runs in his family. Both his uncle and cousin are jewelers. Under his family's guidance, and without any professional training, he picked up the trade and opened up his Los Angeles-based Icee Fresh Jewels & Co. business in 2005.

With an extensive Rolodex of connections in the music industry, the L.A. native has replaced Jacob the Jeweler as the go-to jeweler to the stars, in just a decade. Baller has made grills for Justin Bieber and even diamond-encrusted belt buckles for the late Michael Jackson. Being that the jeweler's clients are mostly rappers, Baller's most frequent custom designs are "iced-out Jesus pieces" and grills.

"He has his finger on the pulse of what's next for the hip-hop genre's jewelry culture," says client Pusha T.

Aside from making jewelry, Baller has a passion for luxury cars, which shows in his rapidly growing luxury car collection. Auto Evolution reports, Baller owns a BMW M3, a Ferrari 360 Stradale and a Bentley Flying Spur, in addition to two Lamborghinis. He recently showed off his newest addition to his followers on Instagram: a black-on-black Lamborghini Aventador, which is the second one he bought in the last six months.

In the caption he wrote, "My hard work has proven results. My network and relationships are what got me here. I positioned myself around successful people so I could follow their habits. I don't trust words, I even question actions, but I never doubt patterns. And I been doin this!"

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