By the way, Sauron got his hands on the One Ring again. No need to alarm King Aragorn: It was a replica (or so they hope) and the recipient was only the actor (Sala Baker) who portrayed the Evil Lord.

Badali's rarest item is a titanium One Ring. Only nine were made — symbolic of the nine original fellowship members — and they were given to employees, family and friends. And get this: Reminiscent of Tolkien's tale, one of these precious rings was even lost. Not to take some luster off this legend, but the ring wasn't misplaced in the Gladden River or Misty Mountains. Try at a family reunion at an Idaho campground.

The company's non-LOTR merchandise includes red, green and blue bands with funky Elven designs, which are currently as hot an item as a Balrog's fiery breath on their Web site, www.badalijewelry.com. They specialize in fantasy and often customize jewelry with markings in languages from Norse to Egyptian. They once even made a CTR ring in Rune.

But, no doubt, Badali's lembas (Elvish bread) is buttered with the "Lord of the Rings" line. It helps that they're the only company officially licensed by Tolkien Enterprises to replicate Middle-earth masterpieces described in the epic fantasy trilogy books. And when it comes to his company's interpretation of Tolkien's precise descriptions, head jeweler Ryan Cazier is understandably a bit biased.

"We design ours to be worn as jewelry, not as something you'd find at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box," Cazier said. "Ours are by far the best. Hard-core fans prefer our jewelry. People who buy these are classic fantasy geeks who will nitpick over the tiniest details."

That, if you're wondering, was a compliment to their Tolkien-loving customers' tastes. And the clientele should be relieved to know these jewelers are also talented nitty, gritty nitpickers. From casting to polishing, they spend up to four hours on each ring. And that's not counting how long it took them to create the original perfect model.

"We're Tolkien fans producing things for Tolkien fans," said business manager Loria Badali. "So there's a lot of love."

Reading J.R.R. Tolkien's works actually influenced Paul Badali to become a jeweler three decades ago. He was fascinated by the descriptions of the rings' beauty and power. Since he's a lifelong Rings fan, he says it's a dream to actually make money off of one of his hobbies.

Badali is hopeful Jackson will eventually make "The Hobbit," as that would spike Tolkien mania again in a few years. But the interest in all things "Lord of the Rings" is certainly at an all-time high now. You only have to look at billion-dollar box-office numbers, record Oscar reports and Badali's swamped workload to confirm that.

The only downside? It's literally a dirty job.

"By the end of the day," said Cazier while examining his soiled hands, "you look like an auto mechanic."

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E-mail: jody@desnews.com