High school class rings!

[TimeforMe]

OMG! Since when did they get so expensive? DD came home with her order form today and I couldn't believe the prices. She is trying to be conservative, but even at that the ring she likes is $300. Did you guys have the same experience? Did you buy your child the ring or have them contribute?

Wow--I am flabbergasted!

 

[Meriweather]

Bought them
DD still wears hers 4 years later, was thinking of a college one too....still deciding on that.

I do still wear mine occasionally too.

 

[tinkerbell81284]

Try www.walmart.com that's where my sister and I ordered ours because the school's prices were outragous!!! I got mine for less than $60, same with my sister!

Tink

 

[Jasminesmommy]

When I graduated 10 years ago mine was $350 and my mom got it for my birthday. My sister is graduating this year and my mom and I are going to go half on it. The one she wants she says is $400 and almost identical to the one I have. I just stopped wearing mine so I wore it for a good 9 years. Plus its a nice heirloom for your children to pass on.

 

[WDWAurora]

Yes, mine was in that range. Just a tip, you may already know this, but if she gets yellow gold, get the lowest carat weight. They look just as good and are tougher, and cost a lot less. My parents bought mine for me, and I wore it everyday from November of my sophomore year of high school until October of my junior year of college, which is when I got my college ring (which I now hate and am considering paying the $55 fee to have a new one made...I really thought I liked it, but it just isn't what I thought it was). I bought my college one with no help from my parents. No way would I ask them to spend that much money twice! If she'll wear it it's a nice nice thing. I wore mine everyday, so I don't think my parents regretted it.

 

[caitycaity]

no one in my high school bought rings, but the one i ordered for college cost about $450.

 

[WhenUwishUponAstar]

i didn't get a class ring for high school or college instead I got regular rings (both from my parents) one was saphire and diamonds (birthstone) the college one was all diamonds.

small but diamonds, no daughter to hand them down too, maybe a grand daughter some day.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I have a pearl ring with a couple of diamonds.... that was instead of my class ring 18 years ago. I still wear it every day... and I am pretty sure I would not be wearing a class ring if I had chosen that.

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by WDWAurora
Yes, mine was in that range. Just a tip, you may already know this, but if she gets yellow gold, get the lowest carat weight. They look just as good and are tougher, and cost a lot less.

It's either 10k or 14k and if she went for the gold, I thought I would get the 14k because I figured the 10k might turn her finger green. Hmmm...guess I'll have to re-think that.

Thanks, Tinkerbell, I'll try the Wal-Mart site.

Most of the kids around here do get them and I do think she'd wear it all of the time. But she won't get it until the beginning of Jr. year so. I'll probably end up buying it for her.

 

[Evil Princess]

When it came time to get mine, the only one I wanted was about $500 and looked NOTHING like a class ring (that was my intention).

My parents decided that they'd rather buy me $125 Tiffany bracelet that I'd wear for awhile than a class ring that I'd lose or get sick of.

Almost four years later I still wear the bracelet, and I have no complaints with that arrangement, lol.

I've been through about four claddagh rings through high school, I kept losing them, so I figure the decision to get a bracelet was better.

 

[Micca]

I can't remember the price of my high school ring, but I'm sure it was in the $100-$200 range. I'm not too sentimental about high school, perhaps it could be melted down into something DW or DDs would wear?

 

[nemo1987]

i love the look of class rings, but some of them are soooo big! i got mine at our local jeweler for 200 dollars cheaper ($125 all together) for the same ring that i could have gotten at the school. i love my ring and wear it everyday. the kids at our school have to wait about five months to receive theirs and some of the kids' stones fell out when they got them. i am proud of mine and like to wear it whenever i can!
**Sarah**

 

[Kirby]

My son, who will be a junior next year, doesn't want to go through the school to get his. He's already picked out the jeweler he wants to go to because friends have told him its less expensive and he will get a discount on top of it because he is a member of D-FY-IT.

 

[TimeforMe]

Interesting....I never knew you could get it at a jeweler. She already has so much nice (Tiffany) jewelry, I don't want to get her another piece. The h.s. ring would be more of a memento of her h.s. years, I think. Some of them look nothing like the high school rings I remember.

Maybe I'll try a local jeweler......

Are there any other websites?

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I think mine was probably in excess of $500 because I had to have the 'special' one that was a combination of platinum and white gold (the part around the stone is white gold, the shank is platinum). Luckily, my grandmother paid for it instead of my parents or I'd have never gotten it. It's in my jewelry box. Wore it from about soph year of HS (when I got it) until I gave it to DH to wear on a chain about 4 years after that. I'm keeping it and handing it down to DS because it's 'special'. There aren't that many I've seen that are a combination of metals. Plus...my graduating class was the last one at my HS to be allowed to have the Confederate Rebel or the Confederate Flag on our rings (had to do with a school controversy over those symbols which had been our mascot for nearly 40 years when I graduated...long story).

TOV

 

[wdwgirl03]

Never got a class ring, I got my letter jacket instead, which was around $160 (?).

 

[BCVOwner2002]

DS decided he did not want one but the starting prices were around $400. He said he'd rather get a college ring. Annmarie

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I got my HS jacket too...free of charge! At our school, if you were in an activity (band, choir, theatre, etc) for three years, your senior year you recieved your letterman jacket which was paid for by the school. There were other ways of getting one (you could buy one or get a one on a UIL solo in band or choir), but that was the easiest way to get one, IMO.

TOV

 

[SoonerKate]

I had a high school ring, but I never wore it once I graduated. Actually, I don't even think I wore it that often in high school. I was able to trade it in for credit on my college ring, which looks like this, except that it's white gold.

 

[WDWAurora]

It's either 10k or 14k and if she went for the gold, I thought I would get the 14k because I figured the 10k might turn her finger green. Hmmm...guess I'll have to re-think that.

I've worn my high school or college one for nearly 7 years now, both 10k, and never had any greeness....Occasionally my finger turns white underneath since it rarely sees the sun!

What company are they using? I highly recommend Josten's...my 2 rings are through them, and dad's ring was too, and they still repair it and make changes to it as necessary, free of charge! They actually totally replaced it once when he sent it in since the new version was slightly different than his and they couldn't fix where the sides had worn off...Luckily he caught them before they destroyed the old one and got it back and sent the new one back-he just wanted his own ring back. It was in for a new stone color.