# Are high school class rings still a popular thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560 "2026-02-11T00:31:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/61 "2026-02-12T14:44:53Z")
Given most rings have the owner’s name engraved inside, pawning it in the same town is a real genius move. Great story! I just pulled my ring off to check and after ~47 years of off and on most overnights my name is still legible in there. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/62 "2026-02-12T14:48:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Given most rings have the owner’s name engraved inside I’m not sure if that is a default option. Mine wasn’t, and it isn’t in the “build a ring workshop” section of the Jostens website. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/63 "2026-02-12T15:13:46Z")
For both of mine it was an optional add-on for IIRC $15ish. And both mine came from Josten. Although that was long, long ago in a land far, far away. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/64 "2026-02-12T16:06:03Z")
Back in my senior year of high school, instead of a class ring my folks agreed with me and got me a gold and onyx ring that I wore for the next 45 years. At that point I started wearing my father’s ring that it was patterned after. As a retired teacher of seniors, I always discouraged the buying of rings when the Jostens folks came around. AFAIK, none of my students ever bought one (SoCal public high school.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/65 "2026-02-12T16:21:17Z")
I got one when I graduated in 1965; gold and jade. It was stolen in boot camp two years later. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/66 "2026-02-12T18:25:52Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But I resisted. I never got a college ring, either. > > I don’t see the appeal: If I wore a Havahd or MIT ring, people would think I’m showing off. If I wore a UW-Platteville ring, the Havahd and MIT folk would say “why you pretending to be somebody with your pathetic state school ring?” Or at least, that’s what I’d think they were thinking. I’ve been wearing my MIT Brass Rat for over 50 years, and no one has ever accused me of showing off. I don’t push it in anyone’s face, though. I did get someone who was writing a story where the ring played a part ask to see mine. I got mine in 1972, when gold was $35 an ounce, so it was expensive but not crazy. I have no idea of what a Harvard ring looks like, or if people up there bought them. Other rings seem to all look pretty much the same. The thing I like about mine is that it is distinctive. I graduated from high school in 1969, and while I think they sold rings no one I knew bought one. My kids graduated in 2000 and 2004, and they were not interested. Nor were they interested in college rings - I don’t think it came up. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/67 "2026-02-13T00:07:22Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I don’t know anyone who bought a ring. I don’t see people wearing them with pride and do not think they are popular. But I think Jostens did our high school yearbooks. They also did our invitations. They were big on upselling all kinds of crap as memorabilia. I bought a ring, but lost it a couple of years later in a move. They were popular in my rural high school. Class of ‘81. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/68 "2026-02-13T02:37:39Z")
I just remembered my dad had a HS class ring. He graduated in 1958 and his ring is gold and fairly simple - no huge jewel (it isn’t overly large as well), sharp edges or outlandish festoonery which seems common on many class rings. The ones offered when I graduated were more similar to Super Bowl rings than normal, rational jewelry. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/69 "2026-02-13T12:08:04Z")
question to non-americans: Are “school-rings” a thing in your country or is it merely a US-thing? (maybe Canada? or Commonwealth)? I went to school in central Europe (70-80ies) and of course there are no rings - why “of course” you might ask? … b/c you ~~go~~ are assigned (by default) to the (public)school closest to your home, so its similar to the process of assigning your voting local/polling station. … and you wouldn’t wear a ring for the assigned voting locale, either or IRS office 😉 … ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/70 "2026-02-13T13:24:24Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > and you wouldn’t wear a ring for the assigned voting locale, either or IRS office You don’t spend six hours a day five days a week, 39 weeks a year with the folks at the local polling station. Most Americans do not choose the school they attend either. It’s the designated public school for the catchment area they live in. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/71 "2026-02-13T13:28:44Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > /c you ~~go~~ are assigned (by default) to the (public)school closest to your home, so its similar to the process of assigning your voting local/polling station I doubt if that’s the reason. Although there are some large school systems in the US that don’t have assigned schools for certain grade levels , most do, even if there is also some choice. And lots of public school districts don’t have any choice at all - my grandchildren’s school district has only one high school. If they don’t want to go their, the only option is private. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/72 "2026-02-13T13:40:53Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > A guy in my department head school class graduated from USNA. Not remarkable in itself—we had many USNA grads in the class (and I am sure the same would be true of the class before, the class after, and every other class ever). > > What _was_ remarkable was that he did not have a class ring. I know because he told us so. Said it was such a big deal that one of the staff officers at USNA counseled him in writing about it, but he stood firm and decline to purchase one. There is a reason why service academy graduates are called ring knockers. That’s a rare guy. I’ve never known one without one. I had a class ring. It’s somewhere around here. I barely ever wore it. For the brief time I had a girlfriend in high school she had it on a chain around her neck. IIRC every one I knew got a ring. My daughters are 26 and 24. Neither of them ever brought up wanting a ring. I don’t know if Jostens was in the school pitching it or not. Fun fact: Josten makes those huge, gaudy, incredibly expensive Superbowl rings. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/73 "2026-02-13T13:48:36Z")
I went to the same Canadian high school as @Spoons, but class of '98. I have a similar memory – graduation rings were available, but I don’t remember them as being a really big thing. By my senior year, I was quite fond of my school and might have wanted to get one of these, but I was broke at that time, so they just kind of went off the radar. That said, I don’t know if they contained gold or not. My vague recollection is that it might mainly have been the jocks that were interested in getting them. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/74 "2026-02-13T16:42:29Z")
Class of 2000 here, standard suburban middle-class mostly White school on Long Island. I got one, I think many people did, I remember when they gave out the catalogs to all the students. Of course I haven’t worn it in decades and am not even sure where it is now so… Probably still in my childhood bedroom somewhere. Mine _definitely_ wasn’t gold, I’ve never been a fan of gold color, it was some kind of silver. I remember it was a flat onyx stone with a diamond in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/75 "2026-02-13T17:19:06Z")
It’s a huge deal at A&M. It’s the rare student that hits whatever the threshold for getting a ring is (it was 95 hours for undergrads when I was in school) and doesn’t go order one. Like I can’t think of anyone I’ve known or heard of who didn’t, and I was a RA for four years, so my sample set is pretty large. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/76 "2026-02-13T18:27:12Z")
I sometimes think the Aggies are the most gung-ho military of the US service academies, far outstripped the “real” ones. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/77 "2026-02-13T18:57:51Z")
They even mentioned something about the ring separating the “fish” from the grads. This is quite a few years back, but I think it was like the plebes at West Point. So, it seems like rings are still at thing at A&M. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/78 "2026-02-13T19:45:21Z")
That wouldn’t surprise me at all. I’m not military, but we’re as gung-ho as college fans get for sports, so I would imagine it would extend to the cadets and the officers in the military who went to A&M too. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/79 "2026-02-13T19:50:59Z")
Class of '81. Only cheerleaders and jocks bought those things. I would have been laughed out of my social circle if I was ever seen wearing one. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560/80 "2026-02-13T19:55:27Z")
Although my high school was good, my goal was to get out of it, not remember it with a token. I was going to college, so this wasn’t my last chance for a ring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-high-school-class-rings-still-a-popular-thing/1027560.md?page=5)