High school rings: Passe or not?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I still have mine, but the HS ring was a waste of money IMO.

I got it because everyone else seemed to be getting one, and my mom wanted me to have one. But girls have had it longer than i had it in HS, and its so ugly, I would never wear it now.

I got one made out of one of the “made up” metal names, which meant it was probably a miller lite can in a previous life.

I honestly don’t even know where mine is, so i’m going to have to look for it. I haven’t seen anyone wear a high school ring since college.

College rings, on the other hand I like if they are classy. I like the signet rings for men and women… No big birthstone jumping out. And I would only wear the last school attended. I have two college rings and I like them both. Nthey are both gold, but I haven’t worn them in years. I think I know where they are.

I can’t imagine any kid going to college getting a HS ring these days. Kids for the most part consider them cheesy, especially the guys. Girls can get stylish rings that they can actually wear.

The one thing I have noticed is that anyone who wears a class ring in today’s professional setting, are either over 50, or went to a prestigious college, or have an advanced degree.

I’ve seen a fee undergrad Harvard rings, for example… But I’ve never seen an undergrad on anyone over the age of 30.

Some schools also have traditional rings that are immediately recognized if you live in the town the school is in. I know a number of people who have gone to Duquesne University for an advanced degree (law usually), and everyone has the same ring, male or female. A standard class ring with a red stone (ruby, I guess) in the square design, with an old English D encrusted in gold on the top of the stone. Both men and women get this same ring, women obviously getting the smaller version. If you didn’t live in Pittsburgh, however, you would never recognize the ring or itsmschool affiliation. I’m guessing the further you get away from Pittsburgh, the fewer of these rings you see, they are very dated and aren’t very good looking at all. Still, if younare into tradition, you will probably pony up the bucks for it.

Pitt is sort of the same, in that their standard mens ring is gold, with a large oval blue stone on top with an encrusted golden “P” on the stone. I think it is old English. I have seen these rings outside of the city, but never on younger people.

Finally UVa (Virginia) has a traditional signet ring which I’ve seen on many womens hands. It is a stylish ring, and looks the same whether it is a grad or undergrad ring.

All my info is two decades old, so who knows what/if they sell now.

22

I went to a small school and everyone in my graduating class ('86) had one. We couldn’t afford the Josten’s price, so we did some off-metal thing that cost about $65. I got some meaningful symbols on it and wore it through half my junior year until probably a couple of months after graduation. The only thing I hated about the whole thing was that they’d just recently started coming out with pretty designs and that was what I wanted. My mother, however, guilt tripped me into believing I wouldn’t ultimately like that because it didn’t LOOK like a class ring (way to miss the point, mom), so I caved and got something hideously traditional. I have no idea where it is now.

23

Graduated from a small town HS in 1977, and pretty much everyone bought one. I wore it in HS (ring spinnng contests!), and maybe for a while in college. I do know where it is, though.

Three sons. Oldest graduated HS in 2010. He wanted a ring, so we got it for him. Don’t know that he wore it much, or knows where it is. But I think he liked the idea of having one, so that’s OK.

Second son graduated this spring. HS was very important to him, he wanted a ring, and spent a lot of time figuring out just what to put on it (back in my day, the only options were type of metal and what stone). I don’t know that it was ever on his finger much, but he did (maybe still does?) keep it on his key chain.

Youngest is a senior this year. He had no interest in getting a ring, so he didn’t.

Oh - I’m a big city guy now, so the boys are in a large school. I don’t know how many people in their respective classes got rings.

24

Most of the people in my class got one. Jostens came to the school and all the tenth graders got let out of class early to go order their rings. My sister was a sophomore in 2009 and the school was still doing things the same way.

I still have my ring, but I haven’t worn it since high school and if I had to do it all over again, I’d still get one since it was nice to have at the time, but it would have been a $50 Walmart ring instead.

25

I’m wondering if there’s a regional connection for high school rings. All (well, both) of the people I know who wear one are from the South. Here in the Northwest, I don’t know anyone who owned one, let alone still wears it.

26

I’ve always thought they were ridiculous, but then I’m from the UK where we didn’t have them. I always thought Scandinavian doctoral rings were kind of weird, but at least they look like rings. Class rings (mens’ class rings, anyway) look like the kind of jewellery you might get from a cereal box.

27

I didn’t get a class ring, but I wore the ring of a couple boyfriends. (yarn & all!)

28

I got one (Class of 1991) but lost it some years later and don’t particularly care. I suppose if it had been 14k gold I’d be upset now for the material loss but it was some Silveroniumite “alloy” with a fake stone.

I’d tell my kid today not to bother despite the Josten’s people making it sound like the biggest deal ever. With more than a couple years behind you, your high school days become less and less significant and if you want to reminisce, you can look at your year books.

29

I went to the Josten’s site to recreate the class ring I would have gotten in 1976. God and silver colored, synthetic Aquamarine, no inner engraving, simple “gemstone” cut.
$425.

30

I think HS class rings meant more back when most people were done with formal schooling after high school. Even though I felt my own HS experience was a tremendous milestone, even as a senior I figured if I got a class ring at all it’d be a college one, because I sure wasn’t ever going to wear TWO rings!

I did get a college class ring and wore it a lot for almost 10 years, just because I like wearing rings. (At that point, a wedding ring took the place of the class ring, albeit on the other hand.) But now I rarely put it on; basically only when going back to campus to interview students, or occasionally for formal dress if the ring/stone color matches my tie.

31

I graduated in 1988 and we got mine in 1987 (my junior year).

We ended up buying it through a local jeweler instead of through the school. To me, not only did I get a nicer ring and a lot more customized, it was cheaper as well…

32

Must be an extra charge for that.

33

I got one in high school (graduated in 1982–I think I got the ring the year before). It’s a “classic” class ring style, because as a tomboy girl I hated the little delicate “girl” rings and envied the big boys’ ones, so I got the biggest bulkiest women’s version I could find. I still have it. I don’t wear it anymore, but I liked it–it had a synthetic tigerseye with a starburst, my year of graduation on one side, and the CSF (California Scholarship Federation) logo on the other. I think pretty much everybody in my class got one (or at least was encouraged to). My parents were pretty gung-ho about letting me get all the “cool school” stuff like rings and yearbooks, and I did want them.

I have a college ring too, but I don’t even remember when I got it. I think I wore it for a while–it’s a more understated thing that wasn’t the “class ring” style but still wasn’t overly girly. I’m not really sure why I got that one. Probably my parents’ doing again. :slight_smile:

34

I’m getting the “L” out of here. :smiley:

35

I didn’t get one when I was in school in the late 70s, but a lot of other students did. It probably helped that Jostens was headquartered in my hometown.

36

I didn’t get one when I graduated from either high school or college in the 1970s.

For some reason, I’ve got “Teen Angel” going through my head all of a sudden. :slight_smile:

37

I’ve never heard of Jostens that you all are mentioning. Ours were offered through a company called Balfour. Heaven knows why I remembered the name! Probably because there were always posters up everywhere advertising for them.

38

I graduated high school in 1986; got my class ring my junior year and wore it until I got my college class ring my junior year of college, which I still wear to this day.*

Therefore, I conclude that it’s probably passe.

*I occasionally still wear my h.s. class ring, and will sometimes wear a different ring which I wore for several years in place of my college class ring. But day-to-day, it’s mostly my college class ring.

39

Woo-wee! I just designed my ring on the website too and it’s a whopping $744. Mercy. It is sort of cool; white gold and a black stone.

OK now I want a class ring. :smiley:

40

I wonder if you can find them at antiques stores, or on ebay. I think it would be fun to wear someone else’s ring … especially if it said “Tammy” and I was a cheerleader.