Cheaper Class Ring Company's?

[toystory1130]

OK I did the Jostens route 2 years ago and paid a truckload of $$ -there has got to be a cheaper alternative. Has anyone ordered and been happy with any other company? Jostens don't seem to even carry real silver rings, which is what we are looking for. Help?
We are looking at Things Remembered and Limoges.

 

[worm761]

Check an actual jeweler. But I know I have seen them at Walmart. I am not sure who they go through or what the quality is like. I never got a class ring and when I asked DS if he wanted one his senior year he said no.

 

[scrhsa]

I have three girls and two have already graduated. We decided to not go the class ring route. My first daughter decided that she wanted a James Avery ring.About $60. She graduated in '11 and still wears it. My next daughter loves Texas so she decided she wanted a necklace(doesn't like rings) in the shape of Texas with the school mascot-- a crab. We had it special made at a local jeweler. Only about $90. That one might not be worn as much as something else but for the price I'm ok with that. My third daughter will graduate '17. She is into drama so we might go with a comedy/tragedy theme. Either a ring or necklace. We have plenty of time to decide On a side note, none of my girls were really invested in their school. They were involved in things, just didn't/don't care that much about it. Sad, I know, but they have always kind of looked to the future and not really cared about HS. Of course homeschooling/catholic school in the early grades might have had something to do with that

 

[amcnj]

I know people who purchased them through Walmart a few years back, they were very happy with them and commented that there were many choices/combinations. And that the price was much lower than through the school.

 

[Dakota731]

Walmart's rings are great and the same quality as the school companies for half the cost

 

[barkley]

along with walmart the chain and some of the private jewelry stores around us do class rings for what seems much less than the company our high school uses. neither of my kids opted for class rings but I can say that if you choose a product through artcarved they are phenomenal about standing behind their products. my class ring ('79) had an issue in the early 80's that they took care of immediately, and dh's wedding ring which we purchased in '90 (also artcarved) needed to be resized a few years ago which was trickly because of the continuous engraving all the way around the band-we took it into a local artcarved authorized jeweler who sent it into the company and they did a beautiful job at no charge.

 

[Iowajes]

I highly recommend just not getting a high school class ring. I'm so glad I didn't. It seems like a big waste of money. (And I was highly invested in my school.)

College- depends on the college. At my school it's almost bigger than the degree... I still wear mine 10 years after graduation, and it's amazing to see people who have worn them for so long the gold has worn smooth. But I don't know anyone who has worn a HS ring after they leave high school.

 

[elgerber]

To buy one or not, was not the question asked . I have heard Wal-Marts are actually very nice. I know one of our local jewelers uses Art Carved, but I am not sure they are much less than Jostens. That said, we did use Jostens for my dd's, we got their cheapest metal, illustrium or something like that, and it was only around $170 I think? She has been wearing it for 4 years and it still looks as nice as it did the day she got it.

 

[Divah]

We bought our daughters 2 years ago ended up going with Jostens but not with the schools package we got hers cheaper just going to the site and doing it how we wanted. More choices and designs and saved a few dollars.

 

[whitney250]

Balfour is another ring company, that's where I got my hs ring... They have a warranty that replaces them if they are lost or damaged. I never wore my HS ring after I graduated, I wish I would have gotten something that I could have worn forever.

 

[MillauFr]

I highly recommend just not getting a high school class ring. I'm so glad I didn't. It seems like a big waste of money. (And I was highly invested in my school.)

College- depends on the college. At my school it's almost bigger than the degree... I still wear mine 10 years after graduation, and it's amazing to see people who have worn them for so long the gold has worn smooth. But I don't know anyone who has worn a HS ring after they leave high school.

Ditto. I would skip the high school ring and wait for college.

 

[quirty30]

Ditto. I would skip the high school ring and wait for college.

Another vote for this option. The novelty most definitely wears off after graduation.

 

[Styx Fan]

I highly recommend just not getting a high school class ring. I'm so glad I didn't. It seems like a big waste of money. (And I was highly invested in my school.)

College- depends on the college. At my school it's almost bigger than the degree... I still wear mine 10 years after graduation, and it's amazing to see people who have worn them for so long the gold has worn smooth. But I don't know anyone who has worn a HS ring after they leave high school.

I think this is a highly personal decision. Some people never attend college so high school would be their only one.

For me, my parents purchased both rings. And before someone jumps to the conclusion my parents were wealthy or spoiled me.....no way! But my dad didn't graduate from high school and my mom was dirt poor. So poor that a kind hearted woman in her town (that my mom did some house cleaning for) bought her a class ring because it was a huge deal at her school. These experiences made my parents want me to have my high school ring. I got a very traditional style ring and value it highly. Not just because of my parents, but because I was extremely involved in school and very vested in my high school. I wore it all through college.

My parents then bought me a college ring because they were so proud that I had graduated. That time around I got a less traditional, though still recognizable, style. Something that looked a bit more like jewelry. I wore it for probably the next 10 years. I finally outgrew it and never got it resized.

Just because some people don't value a high school ring doesn't mean others won't. My son didn't really care about one, so we didn't bother. But he wanted and got a varsity jacket.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Our first son graduated in 2009 and got a Jostens class ring that costs about $400. He wore it about two weeks. It has sat on his "trophy" shelf since then.

When our second son graduated in 2014 we felt it only right that he also get a ring if he wanted. So we told him we'd buy him a class ring, or he could have $250 in cash. He took the cash and bought computer components he uses daily.

Our last child graduates in 2019--she will also get the ring or cash option

 

[Donnainnj]

OK I did the Jostens route 2 years ago and paid a truckload of $$ -there has got to be a cheaper alternative. Has anyone ordered and been happy with any other company? Jostens don't seem to even carry real silver rings, which is what we are looking for. Help?
We are looking at Things Remembered and Limoges.

We ordered for my DD from Joyjewlers.com. I found what she was looking at in the catalog for Jostens. It turned out fine.
Donna

 

[MrsPete]

Jostens offers a "basic ring" that's only about $90-100. The guys' ring might've been a little more. You get your choice of either silver or gold, but the other options are "standard" for your school -- the stone is the school color, one side of the ring is your school's mascot, and the other is a generic education something-something. Quite reasonable.

I loved my high school ring, but I never cared about having a college ring.

All the other companies are going to be around the same prices.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

I had to pay for my class ring myself in high school, so I got one from Walmart and loved it. Unfortunately, I no longer have it as a tornado took it away so I can't comment on the quality 10 years later, but I was so glad I got it from there instead of paying 3 times as much through Jostens.

 

[Divah]

I still have mine... it was from jostens back in the day...and 20 cough years latter it still in my jewelry box next to my college and military one. I am glad I kept them. My eldest daughter use to get in my jewelry box and put them on and always ask me about them even when she knew what the symbols on them where, over and over....good memories and now she has her own high school and next year college one.

 

[knitngurl]

I'm so thankful for this thread!! My daughter didn't want a ring, but her high school is closing after this year and suddenly she HAS to have one since she's in the last ever graduating class. Since they usually order them Junior year around here I thought that ship had sailed.

I never got my college ring, but I loved my HS ring. Lost in in a move years ago, wish I could replace it.

 

[aprilgail]

They order ours here as Sophomores so this is the year for that. I just found out that if you don't order the class ring then you don't get a cap and gown for graduation, that comes "free" with the class ring if you buy it from school. So I guess I would have to price out how much a ring cost elsewhere then add in the cost of renting the cap and gown to see if that was cost effective. Plus they have a big "ring breakfast" and then a ring ceremony for all the kids that get their rings from school so not sure she wants to miss the ceremony part by getting it elsewhere.