The Chinese League of Legends Pro League (LPL) has unveiled the new Silver Dragon Cup, a trophy created by jewellery brand Tiffany and Co. in celebration of the 10th anniversary for LoL in China.
The 18.5″ Silver Dragon Cup was first hinted at in Youtube video posted on August 30th on the tournament’s official English channel and was officially unveiled at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre during the Summer Final.
Additional details were later shared on the official LPL Twitter, alongside the LPL’s new visual identity.
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The 14-minute-long video discussed the forging process of the trophy and featured interviews with previous LPL champions and selected fans who detailed items of sentimental value which were to be cast into its ‘crystal’.
National Intangible Cultural Heritage Craftsman, Shen XinPei, forged the items. Moreover, pieces from the old Silver Dragon Cup forged the crystal.
Team abbreviations of previous LPL Spring and Summer Finals winners are engraved on the trophy’s base, going back to 2013 when the Tencent LoL Pro League was first introduced. Edward Gaming became the first team to lift the new Silver Dragon Cup in victory.
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This is the jewelry brand’s second collaboration within LoL Esports on the Asian continent this year.
According to Korizon, Tiffany and Co. partnered with the Korean LCK to produce ‘engraved rings and bracelets from their Tiffany 1837™ Makers collection’ which are given to the champions of each split in the LCK for the next three years.
Esports Insider says: It was massive news when Louis Vuitton partnered with Riot Games in 2019, debuting its one-of-a-kind case for the LoL Esports World Championship trophy, the Summoner’s Cup. Now, it appears that the regional leagues have been able to strike out on their own to form partnerships for tournaments, namely Spring and Summer Splits. With the growing prevalence of digital assets, such as NFTs, it’s interesting to see traditional trophies retain importance as signifiers of competitive excellence.