High School Class Ring

[kellia]

DD wants a class ring, so we're thinking of getting her one for Christmas. Any suggestions on where to get a budget one that isn't junk? Luckily for us, she doesn't want gold!

 

[ceecee]

We're getting DD's thru the school which is Josten's. I got my class ring there and I still have it many years later, it wasn't gold but the durable metal of the year. The booklet says starting at $69. They offer payment plans as well as insurance plans. The one DD wants is actually $147.00, there are 18K, 14K, 10K gold, white gold and Solaris, dual cast and lustrium. They are having a parent's night next week so we plan on going to that. There are so many choices and styles unlike in my day. She wants a golf and dance symbol on the sides with her name and year on each side (2 per side free) the school name is around the stone (which used to be your birthstone or school color and now I guess it's whatever you like???). Engraving is your name or something else up to a certain number of letters.
Funny thing...it says if your graduation year changes they will do the ring again free!!! I guess you can graduate early or fail!

 

[DebMcDonald]

We also got my DD's through school, I also still have mind from 25 years ago.....

The cheapest version for my daughter was still $300.

 

[krcit]

We also got my DD's through school, I also still have mind from 25 years ago.....

The cheapest version for my daughter was still $300.

My dd just came home with the order form.THE cheapest one is close to $300. Soooooooooooooooo glad she doesn't want one

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

My grandmother bought me mine many years ago. She bought mine from Wal-Mart and I find it to be good quality and it still looks good. I got mine in silver and I love it.

 

[akenneson]

I got mine from Walmart 11 years ago. White gold and it still looks wonderful. Great quality. I believe it was around $100-$125.

 

[prncess674]

I would suggest getting it ASAP if she is graduating this May. 99% of the country stops wearing a HS ring a few months after starting college so it has limited wear. Buy the cheapest thing she will accept, this isn't a wedding ring that will be worn forever.

 

[Debbie7452]

My older DD ordered Josten's through the internet. She didn't like the Balfour ones from the school. Great quality and customer service but NOT budget.

Second DD didn't want one because she thought it was "a waste of money" since she wouldn't wear it for very long. We offered to get her a fashion ring instead. She picked out a beautiful ring while we were on vacation. It was so much cheaper than a class ring and turned out to be a great reminder of a wonderful family trip.

By the way, my older DD still wears her class ring and she is a sophomore in college. She did choose more of a delicate design so it is not so "class ring-like".

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

I got mine from Josten's, and I still wear it every day (I'm a sophomore in college). My little sister just ordered hers from Josten's, and there were some reasonably priced ones, though the prices have jumped some since I got mine.

Walmart also has some really pretty class rings, and your local jewelry store will probably have some, too.

 

[My3kiddos]

I purchased my daughter's last year and this year I will be ordering my son's. You have to keep in mind that gold and silver are both really high right now so that is making the prices more expensive than they have been in the past. Theirs came/will come from Herff Jones. They were cheaper than Josten and even Walmart, but they are still very $$$$ for gold.

 

[mom of four]

I just ordered my son's school ring from Walmart. He had picked out several from Josten's and the price range was $259 to $350. We went to walmart and found one that he liked better then the Josten's choice for $198 but rang up on sale for $149. The metal choice was the same for both places. I was excited at the money I saved. He actually went and told his friends about it and several of them were goint to purchasing their ring from Walmart.

 

[MrsPete]

Our school sells Jostens' rings, and they have a basic ring option that I thought looked pretty good. If memory serves, it was something like $79/silver $99/gold. You don't get complete control over the details. You get a stone in your school's colors (cut or smooth top), your mascot on one side, and I forget what on the other side. The "words" are your school mascot name (i.e., Tigers) and your graduation year. This price is low enough to compete with Walmart.

Disclaimer: These are the girls' ring prices. I don't have boys, so I didn't 'specially pay attention to their prices.

They can offer these cheaper because they don't have to make them "custom" for everyone. They can turn them out faster. Since the majority of the students choose pretty much what I just described, it looks like a decent option to me.

Our oldest got her class ring for Christmas, and it was in the $250 range. I gave her the option of getting exactly the ring she wanted OR the basic-ring option and having the balance in cash. She chose the custom ring. Personally, I would've taken the basic + cash.

Also, be sure you read all the materials that come home with the ring order. The ring people were at our school for three days. If you "planned" your ring online and brought in a prepared print-out of exactly what you wanted, you got a free class-year hoodie AND $30 off your order. I can see why they do it: They have to compete with Walmart, and they need to take orders fast -- with our prepared print-out, our actual order took about 5 minutes. They just verified her ring size, and we were done.

Now the negative: Her ring was damaged when it arrived. It had a "nick" in the metal right by the stone -- very evident -- and they argued that nothing was wrong. Come on, I could see it without my glasses, and she was heartily disappointed. They did make it right, but they fussed about it. I wasn't pleased with the customer service. I was glad that I'd only made a deposit (didn't pay the whole thing up front); it gave me a little bit of leverage.

 

[Riverhill]

When I was in High School all my friends got a class ring. My parents went to a flea market and bought me an 18k white gold antique diamond ring for $120.00.... years later none of my friends wear their class rings but I still wear a beautiful ring that was choosen with love and retained its value.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have a critical question. Is she planning to go to college? If the answer is yes, do not get her a high school class ring. Once she is in college she will not wear it.

 

[dawnn12]

the h.s. I went to worked with herff jones (class of 95) I still have my ring... its in great shape only reason i dont wear it is because i lost weight and it falls off of all of my fingers i remember it being around 200 then but it was also a womens large style in 10k upgraded stone(at the time) and extra stuff on the one side.i did just check out the website and they have little cute ones for girls. look around do a google search and different sites come up including the one a few pp mentioned

 

[Goofy22]

I purchased my dd's last year she is a senior this year through Herff Jones which is the company the school uses it cost $555 and it's 10k White Gold with a Ice Blue stone her name and school and year . I knew the price would be at least $400 since I paid foor my nieces in 2010 and hers was right when the price of gold went up and it was just under $400. But DD's one friend got hers at Walmart seems to be very good quality and another purcahsed theres at limoges.com and seems to be good quality. Although the schools now are offering a cheap version which is right under silver i forget the name and its very durable thats what my nephew got and you would never know its not silver and it only cost $275 as oppose to $700-$800 those Huge Boys rings were costing on avg!!!

 

[Tracy0315]

We ordered from Dunham Manufacturing in 2009 and will again in 2015. They had a lot of choice for the side panels that other companies did not have. They were great and easy to work with. They have great prices too!!!!!

 

[queenbetsey]

Both of my daughters ordered through wal mart. My 24 year old still wears hers. My youngest also wears hers but she just graduated last May. Both love their rings. Both are very different styles but each girl picked them. Now Walmart has them online too. We went to our local store and looked and got her sized up and then she chose her ring and it was mailed to the house. We also got cash back from Discover so that was a nice surprise as the promotion at the time was for 5% from online shopping so check with your credit card company and see if they have anything like that can work for you.
Jostens was just too expensive for us. Sure they say they have rings that start at a low price but once you get done with add ons
Also know quite a few families that had issues with repairs and what not. Walmart was fast to deliver so she got to wear her ring not wait for it.
Hope this helps.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I would consider how often they will wear the ring. I stopped wearing my high school ring once I graduated high school. I bought myself a college ring when I was getting ready to graduate nursing school andI still wear it, but not all the time. I got the metal that is below silver( cant remember what the company called it) and it looks fine.