Here are some of the ridiculously-priced and gaudy baubles for sale at the Hip Hop Crown Jewels auction in March. Kanye, Lil Jon, Missy, and Diddy are just a few of the stars that offered hundreds of thousands of dollars of signature jewelry. Not pictured is a bracelet of 50 Cent's that's "so bloated with diamonds that wearing it would be akin to hoisting a five-pound barbell all day."

Two of the most prominent groups of diamond collectors will converge on October first at Phillips de Pury when rappers and hip-hop moguls mingle with royalty at the Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels auction. Among the items up on the block is a Guinness World Record holder; Lil' Jon is selling his infamous Crunk Ain't Dead 12-pound diamond-studded monstrosity, notable for being the largest diamond pendant necklace in the world. No word yet on how much the bauble is expected to bring in ($500k is its reported value, and that doesn't include the priceless feeling of wearing a piece that used to sit next to the pimp cup), but its final selling price is guaranteed to become a lyric in a Lil' Jon song.

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• Amy Winehouse doesn't actually have emphysema, she just has scarring in her lungs that could lead to emphysema. That's why it was okay for her to smoke a cigarette upon exiting the hospital. [MG]

• Diamonds are for never? [Jezebel]

• Jill Scott's engaged! To a drummer named Lil John Roberts! Thank goodness its not a different Lil Jon. [BV]

• Does this look and sound like a straight-to-DVD production or what? [NB]

• Rick Ross and Foxy Brown plan to reveal their engagement at the BET Awards. Made for each other, those two are. [NR]

• Even though he's on house arrest, T.I. helped raise $166,000 to feed the homeless. Ah, Thanksgiving! Even illegal machine gun enthusiasts have hearts. [AHH]

• Is Ne-Yo trying to save the cheerleader, save the world? [PH]

• If Wesley Snipes put as much effort into his career as he has put into his tax-evasion trial, well, he would actually have a career. [E!]

• Mary J. Blige is really putting in work to promote her new album. [Vibe]

• If the new urban jewelry trend is taking items out of a first-grader's backpack and encrusting them with diamonds, I'm done. [Bossip]

Kanye West, who has proclaimed himself to be anti-bling in the past, is launching a jewelry line with Takashi Murakami, the artist who designed Graduation's cover art.

West last week unveiled a prototype piece from his upcoming jewelry line, which currently has no release date, at fashion designer Givenchy's show in New York.

He said, "They'll be more accessible, they won't be all diamonds."

But the ones with diamonds won't be of the conflict/blood variety. Right, Kanye?

[SP]

• Have a fear of needles, Jamie? [MG]

• Oh, the young R&B divas. Always biting each other's style. [Bossip]

• R. Kelly is going on tour, his trial be damned. Real talk! [MTV]

• How BET's controversial "Read A Book" skit came to life. [King]

• VH1 is quickly becoming the blackest network on television, for better or worse. [SOHH]

For a moment, I'm removing myself from my cynical, twenty-something-year-old body and trying to channel a 17-year-old girl picking out her very own, cubic-zirconia-encrusted, Creole-inspired House of Dereon class ring. Am I excited? Am I feeling like I'm at one with Beyonce, my teen idol? My teenager-channeling skills might be off, but I'm feeling like I just want a normal-looking class ring. Back to the drawing board, Tina?

[C&D]

The rings that Diddy wore months ago when he allegedly threatened and then, indeed, did "smack flames" out of the ass of an innocent bystander are an integral part of the civil case filed against Diddy by the smackee. The guy's lawyer is convinced that pictures of the rings will match up with the marks on his face after the incident.

The motion states: "Needless to say, Combs does not wear simple rings. The rings he wore when he struck (Rechnitzer) are important and critical to the biomechanics of this case."

And Marzban claims he was forced to resort to filing a formal request because repeated pleas to Combs' party for photographs of the rings had been ignored.

He adds, "After several conversations with (the defendant's) attorney, it became apparent to me that (Combs') constant partying both in the United States and abroad took priority."

I love that they need photos of his "rings." How many does he wear at any given time? If he was sporting a simple band instead of the bejeweled monstrosities I'm sure he had on, this wouldn't even be an issue. A lesson for the conspicuous consumer?

[SP]