Lil Uzi Vert has been a major topic of discussion this month after revealing he paid $24 million for a diamond and had it surgically implanted into his forehead. While many have waited in suspense for him to reveal he was trolling or playing a joke, it looks like that day isn’t coming, as the designers of the custom body piecing speak out.
The piercing was created by New York-based jewelers Eliantte & Co., which is owned by celebrity jeweler Elliot Eliantte. Eliantte recently had his spokesperson, Simon Babaev, speak on his behalf to Rolling Stone about how this unique creation actually works.
“In the body modification world, they usually do everything in stainless steel or surgical-grade steel,” Babaev explained. “But in our case, we did everything with precious metals. We engineered a specific mounting that clips and locks in place. There’s a whole mechanism involved, it’s not a standard piercing. A specific piece and part were both engineered with millimeter precision to get this put on him.”
Babaev also explained that the procedure is not deadly or a health risk, as many have wondered, and that they had him talk to a few people prior to making the face altering come to fruition.
“Yeah, it’s as safe as any other piercing. As long as you maintain it well and have good upkeep, it’s perfectly fine,” Babaev said. “We made sure that prior to getting anything done that Uzi brought someone in to consult on everything. We didn’t just do this randomly.”
Lil Uzi Vert also isn’t the first artist Eliantte & Co. has created facial jewelry for, but the forehead did come as shock initially. “In the forehead? No, that’s a bit extreme. But just on the face, we’ve done,” Babaev told Rolling Stone. “In 2016, Young Thug had a diamond implanted on his face. He had a pear shape, like a teardrop, I believe. He had it on his face for a while, but then I think he lost it.”
The company also considers Uzi a trendsetter and said they wouldn’t be surprised if more people followed his lead.
