Crown Jewels: Panini America Explores the Many Gems of 2013-14 Flawless Basketball
Of the myriad lessons we learned last year from the debut release of Flawless Basketball, perhaps none was more poignant than this: Diamonds, as it turns out, are not just a girl’s best friend. They’re a pretty big hit with high-end basketball collectors, too. Even now, almost a year after the groundbreaking release of 2012-13 Flawless Basketball, diamond-embedded base cards from that inaugural release remain in serious demand. And that bodes extremely well for the upcoming release of 2013-14 Flawless Basketball.
No one will argue with the fact that the premiere Flawless release left some gigantic shoes to fill for the follow-up. For the last 11 months, the Panini America Basketball Product Development Team has been diligently preparing a sequel designed not just to to meet those heightened expectations, but to exceed them. And that’s why you’ll notice more precious gems in 2013-14 Flawless Basketball (diamonds and emeralds have been joined by rubies and sapphires). Another development? The incorporation of even larger diamonds in the set’s 1/1 parallels. When you’re talking about diamonds, size absolutely matters — and bigger is better.
Base diamond cards are numbered to 20, rubies are numbered to 15, sapphires are numbered to 10 and emeralds are numbered to five. The 1/1 diamond masterpieces speak for themselves. In the stunning preview gallery that follows, we showcase a sparkling ensemble of 2013-14 Flawless Basketball’s jewel-embedded gems for your weekend viewing pleasure. We still have plenty to showcase before Flawless releases, but we figured this dazzling sneak peek would be enough to keep folks buzzing for a while.
Enjoy, and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional coverage.
The Knight's Lance 
hi tracy,
any updates as to the configuration per brief case or case? (e.g. one briefcase guanrateed one or two class a signers and all? with the price point and the weak rookie class/this stuff should be loaded than last year.. even the addition of chris webber there should be something …
anyways cant wait for the next few previews.
Hoping to get a briefcase breakdown early next week.
That would be nice… any news on the winners for immaculate?
The gems look solid this year. I like the design a lot more than the patch set. Well done guys
One Jewels per briefcase right?
That would be one way to get the total number of Cases made…
Yes the Diamonds would be our best friend as well…
Is the starting retail price for this 1800.00 dollars? and is the case breakdown 6 autos, 2 mem and 2 gem cards?
Box breakdown*
I will confirm.
Hi im a legends collector, will my man george gervin, alex english, fat lever, steve mix, rex chapman, buck williams in the base set? Also will we have rc of glen rice jr otto porter jr gal mekel nate wolters and gal mekel? Also we aussies would like to see matthew delavedova and patty mills on this set!!!thanks panini
The design and detail on these cards is amazing. Great work guys!
You guys should forget spending money on the briefcase and spend more on the product. Like you did with NT hockey: just a cardboard box = more hits. No one really cares what they come packed in, they care that the cards are high quality and worth the money you guys ask for them. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
How is it that LeBron is shown in a Cavs uniform with Cavs patches and the card says “Cavaliers” in the jumbo patch set but the base card is all Heat stuff? I know you guys said last year you can only show players in anything but their current teams unless its a retro themed set. Well neither of those are retro themed so what gives?
Why the silver stamping/serial numbers? This lazy trend started with sets like Certified, Limited and the infamous Gold standard. An all gold issue with silver serials. We saw it again with this years National Treasures. Base card = silver serial. Gold /25 card = silver serial. Now we see it yet again…Ruby and Emerald foil but with non-matching silver stamping. It’s a tiring trend and the cards would look sooo much more appealing with matching foil.
Hi Tracy,
Please don’t flood autos on 14-15 NBA products.
Awesome! Love the diamond encrusted cards..seems I mentioned this last year but my anniversary is coming up..should I try and ask my wife again about this…
These are easily the centerpiece of any collection, and they’re just the “base parallel” versions! Fantastic gallery, thanks Tracy!