Last November on CBS’s “The Talk,” Teri Hatcher flashed a diamond-studded 49ers Super Bowl ring that she said was a gift from owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., whom she befriended during the 1980s when she was a 49ers Gold Rush cheerleader. 

However something about the bejeweled ring didn’t look quite right — it was missing the team name. 

On further investigation, no records seem to exist online of any 1994 49ers Super Bowl ring that doesn’t include the words “Forty Niners” stamped into the base. Hatcher’s version — which she’s spoken about to TMZ on multiple occasions and apparently keeps in a safe during the off-season — looks completely unique. 

SFGATE wanted to find out. Emails to the 49ers organization, DeBartolo’s consulting agency, Super Bowl ring jewelers Jostens and Hatcher’s representatives went unanswered. But J. Gorman Fine Jewelry, located in Cooperstown, New York, across the street from the Baseball Hall of Fame, offered some clues as to the mystery of the ring.

“I do fittings for the World Series rings for the people who are receiving them from the Hall of Fame, and they’re not always all the same,” said Jessica Gorman, who has repaired similar championship rings. “The lower level staff will sometimes receive a more pared-down version than the players who are receiving the totally blinged-out version.”

Hatcher’s version however, actually looks MORE blinged-out than the typical player’s ring. Gorman’s very rough estimate is that the ring features four to five carats’ worth of diamonds.

“Stylistically the placement of the diamonds looks similar, so obviously they were trying to call in the symbolism of the five Vince Lombardi trophies,” said Gorman, referencing the franchise’s five Super Bowl championships.

According to a listing from Goldin Auctions, DeBartolo had an undisclosed amount of custom rings created for family members. One such ring, made out of a 10K yellow gold with 49 diamonds, sold at auction for $26,180. Unlike Hatcher’s version, it includes the words “Forty Niners” in bold, all-caps font.

“She may have a more petite version, which is not uncommon,” Gorman said.

Gorman described how Hatcher’s ring was likely created using CAD (computer-animated design), which would allow the maker to customize the lettering on the ring with players’ names (or remove the text entirely). The technique is called lost wax casting, in which the words would be created in a wax mold. During the casting process, the wax is melted out, then molted gold is injected in. Gorman said this process allows them to make 50 to 100 ring castings at a time. Since no records of similar rings to Hatcher’s exist, it’s uncertain how many were made. 

“They wanted her to feel special, because obviously she had that close relationship with ownership. So I’m sure they presented her with something that they knew or expected to be to her liking,” Gorman said. The assumption being that despite her 49ers allegiance, Hatcher probably wouldn’t like to wear a ring with words on it.

So despite the fact that the ring looks entirely unique, that doesn’t mean Teri Hatcher’s ring is a forgery — most likely it’s real. And it’s spectacular.