Kendrick Lamar’s diamond-encrusted thorn crown took 1,300 hours to craft

Kendrick Lamar's diamond-encrusted thorn crown he wore at this year's Glastonbury Festival took 1,300 hours to craft.

On Sunday (26 June), Lamar left audiences stunned after he got on the stage at the Somerset festival, with the accented piece of his attire being a glittering and shining crown.

In an exclusive report from Vogue, the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper's crown was made in collaboration with Tiffany & Co and Dave Free, the co-founder of the media company pgLang.

It was created with 50 thorns that were different, such as rose thorns, thin, thick, and straight thorns.

The crown also had more than 137 carats worth of diamonds on it in the form of 8,000 cobblestone micro pavé diamonds, weighing in at approximately 200g.

The design itself reportedly took more than 10 months to create and also over 1300 hours as the crown had to be cast in 14 components in Tiffany's New York workshop. The diamonds were also hand-placed by four craftsmen.

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The final product was assembled in the northern region of Italy, which was then custom fit to Lamar.

Free also told Vogue that the headpiece, which holds connotations to the crown thorn Jesus wore around his head before being nailed to the cross, is also a metaphor for creativity, humility and perseverance.

"The crown is a godly representation of hood philosophies told from a digestible youthful lens," he said continued.

It's also supposed to be gesture of respect to the musicians who had come before and inspired Lamar.

The crown was also inspired by a custom-designed "Thorns" brooch by Jean Schlumberger.

Schlumberger designed the brooch in 1947 as one of two thorn-esque-themed jewellery pieces.

And in 1956, Schlumberger joined Tiffany & Co.

Alexandre Arnault, the executive vice president of product and communication at Tiffany & Co, also noted how thrilled the company was to work with the rapper who highlights "risk-taking creativity and relentless innovation."

Glastonbury festival isn't the only place Lamar has been spotted wearing the crown.

The rapper wore the headpiece for the album cover of Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. He also sported it on June 23 at the Louis Vuitton menswear show in Paris during his performance dedicated to the late designer Virgil Abloh.

Elsewhere, Lamar told audiences why he was wearing the crown.

"They judge you, they judge Christ," he said.

Lamar also repeated the refrain in the song, which concluded with a statement of support for women shocked and disappointed by the rollback of abortion rights in the US.

As blood appeared to trickle down his face from the thorns, the rapper said: "They judge you, they judge Christ. Godspeed for women's rights!"

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