High School Class Rings Now Cost As Much As $1,155

[matcom]

<snip>

For about $1,100, teenagers today could make a down payment on a car, take a trip to Europe -- or purchase a high school class ring.

Depending on the metal and whether the diamonds are real or fake, a boys high school ring like this one from Jostens (center) could cost $275 to $1,155.

That's right, the prices of class rings, a symbol of school affiliation and pride, have skyrocketed above the amount most parents of high school students remember paying. With varsity letter jackets, graduation pictures and prom festivities already high on the senior priority list, the price for a ring is making some students and parents wonder whether the keepsake is worth the cost.

"I can't imagine what an $1,100 ring would look like. Does it have diamonds on it?" asked Sandi Matz, mother of 17-year-old Rachel, who attends Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills.

As a matter of fact, it does.

The rings in the girls Achiever Collection, for instance, range from $270 for white lustrium -- Jostens jeweler's own metal blend -- with cubic zirconias, to $690 for the high-end white or yellow 14K gold with diamonds.

The boys prices range from $275 for white lustrium with cubic zirconias to $1,155 for white or yellow 14K gold with diamonds.

"I think I paid less for my wedding ring many years ago," quipped Keith Warnick, whose two daughters graduated from Ferndale High School in 2000 and 2002, but did not get class rings because they weren't interested. Matz said she'd consider purchasing one for her daughter if she wanted one, but "wouldn't pay $500 for it."

http://www.freep.com/features/living/rings15e_20041115.htm

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

1. ...

Ree.

Dick.

You.

Luss.

[barackmyworld]

2. HS rings are on the way out

In my graduating class of 500, probably 10-15 bought class rings. People are slowly recognizing that it's useless to have jewelry that sits in a drawer.

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. MrG still wears his twenty years later. We are so glad that we bought

ours. Mine was only $72 in 1986. I'd be sad to see them go. :hi:

[JohnKleeb]

3. jesus christ

[LDS Jock]

6. will the Kleebmeister be getting one?

We could start a collection for you. Or, just to humilate you, a pic of you in speedo attire and I'll buy the damn thing for you. :evilgrin:

On edit.. to make it clear, the speedo pic MUST be posted to DU. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

[JohnKleeb]

21. I alrady got one

and for the last time, I won't wear a speedo ever. Now you can get a limited edition, baby kleeb picture.

[derbstyron]

4. I'm finally glad, for once, that I dropped out!

Of course, what is my college ring going to cost me? :(

[Phillycat]

5. "Lustrium"?

[Endangered Specie]

10. Fake gold/silver...

designed to resemble the real thing... much like academic ability of the preps who wear them ;)

[dr.strangelove]

11. Sounds Sexy

I like anything with the word LUST.

[Phillycat]

15. I know!! Me too!!

[bleedingheart]

7. I got one..never wore it..should sell it.

[Endangered Specie]

8. I truly despise that Jostens company.

They make me absolutely sick. But what is even worse are the ignorant fools who will buy this.

The way they pander to the popular preppy bunch really makes me want to hurl, as if that group on its own wasn't bad enough to my stomach.

What I would give to have some of them thrown in a gulag for a day or two, or forced to live on food stamps, or be treated like a 2nd class citizen for a couple of weeks.



</rant>

[Left Is Write]

19. Er....

...you're talking about my kid there. ;)

I do my best to sneak some real values into her, in addition to her penchant for trendy clothes, "hanging out," shopping, dances and parties. I must have done something right: she's a liberal.

At any rate, I agree with you to some extent. They are appealing to the gotta-have-it-now crowd, the ones who think the most expensive items are by default the best items.

[Endangered Specie]

25. I meant the ones who go for the super expesive range.

I can see shelling $150-250, maybe up to 300 for one of these, (perhaps try someone ELSE besides Jostens so you don't get ripped off).

But 500, 700, 900 1100 $$$, thats just a bloody crime right there.

[Left Is Write]

27. Oh.

I thought you just wanted to toss random members of the popular preppy bunch into a gulag.

I would agree that some of them would benefit from that.

[hobbit709]

9. My class ring in 1968

cost $35. $1100 is way past inflation.

[mac56]

12. Mine in 1972 cost about that too.

Honest to god, I have no idea where the damn thing is now.

[dr.strangelove]

13. DID ANYONE HERE GET A HIGH SCHOOL RING??

I didn't, it was way too pricey and my dad told me he never wore his.

[Arugula Latte]

30. Hell no. Even then I thought those things were butt ugly.

Besides, I didn't want to wear any reminders of H.S. on my finger. I got a good education, but don't have many pleasant memories of the place.

College, now THAT was fun and educational, in more ways than one.

[dr.strangelove]

34. Hello Oregonian

Former Oregonian here. Longing to return.

I have 2 friends from high school whom I care about deeply. Most of HS was boring and simple. I too enjoyed college far more.

BAck to missing Oregon. I loved in Clackamas County and I miss so many things. I miss the slopes of Hood and Canon Beach (though I was always partial to Gearheart). I miss Shakespear at Ashland and the high desert. I wasted so much gas drivign to BEnd a few times each year. Recently, I miss the sweetness of the Walla Walla onion rings at Burgerville. I know it is unhealthy and simple, but those onion rings were the bomb.

If you are a college football fan, enjoy the Civil War this weekend. If not, enjoy the peace b/c 75 % of the state will be watching it. GO DUCKS!!

[Arugula Latte]

44. Hi Strangelove!

I hope you can make it back to our fair state.

Where are ya now?

Yep, Burgerville is great. Who knew fast food could be so high-quality and made with seasonal ingredients at that? The blackberry shakes in summer are yummmmmy too.

I'm actually not a native. I grew up in the Bay Area and went to Berkeley, so I guess I'm a Cal Bears fan as far as my sports fan-ness goes, which isn't too far. However, I'm definitely partial to the Ducks over the Beavs, so, Go Ducks! One thing we can all agree on, at least, is that we all hate USC. :hi:

Here's to the Ducks, rain, banana slugs, Ecola State Park, Powells Books, the Church of Elvis, not pumping your own gas, and all things Oregon. :toast:

[dr.strangelove]

45. I'm not a native either

I went to law school at L&C and lived there for a few years after school. Now I am in the big bad NE, that other strip of blue in an otherwise scary red nation.

Its funny you mentioned Ecola State Park. When I was tryign to decide where to go to law school, my first visit to ORegon guided me to Ecola. That beautiful beach and those giants in the surf (though not as grand as Haystack, more fun to climb) made a very easy decision.

I hope to be back soon. Had to move back to take care of mom after dad passed on. We visit often, but not nearly enough.

I never go the Church of Elvis. We kept meaning to get there. I miss Powells.

You are right about the hatred of USC. GO Ducks, great chatting.

[wellstone dem]

14. I refused to buy one from Jostens because of the cost

my daughter and I went to a small local jeweler and she picked out a ring she liked. It has 3 nice garnets on it, and we had it etched on the inside with her initials, her school's initials, and graduation year. total cost was less than $100 and she has a ring she may actually wear for more than a couple years.

[NYC Liberal]

17. Good idea!

I might do that if it's too expensive.

[NYC Liberal]

16. Wow, I have no clue how much mine will cost.

If it's too expensive, screw it.

[Left Is Write]

18. Great. I paid $110 for my class ring.

I graduated in 1984, and I bought my ring in my sophomore year. I wore it for about a year after I graduated (maybe not even that long), and it's been sitting in a jewelry box ever since.

My daughter informed me that this is the week they are collecting orders for class rings (from Josten's). She's a senior. I told her I would pay for half of the cost of a ring, but I haven't seen ring options or price lists (we had two options: men's or women's!).

My first wedding set was $1200. I'm not paying that for a class ring! Who even wears them after high school is over?

[Endangered Specie]

20. If you need an $1100 piece of metal around your finger...

to "express" or "define" yourself... I swear, some kids are a dime a dozen these days. Nothing gets my goose worse than this same dress, low grades are cool, predictable attitude, be like everyone else hip attitude. It is a bloody poison, and its no wonder most these types are wealthy Repo's and "good christian people" :nuke:

These kids had better pray I dont ever become a professor one day.

[DrWeird]

22. I feel sorry for the kids who buy it.

They've probably never been taught how not to be suckered. I guess this is a lesson they won't soon forget.

[FuzzySlippers]

23. $270 for white lustrium (WTF is that?)

and cubic zirconia? That's some racket that Jostens company has going.

[JohnKleeb]

24. mine cost me around 250

[Endangered Specie]

26. I was going to get one...

but $250 was too rich for my blood, especially considering I couldnt get REAL gold till the 300+ range, and fake metals turn my skin a grassy green-brownish color.

Plus the thought of financing that company was the sinker.

[Bunny]

28. Back in the old days, when dinosaurs walked the earth, we exchanged

them with our sweethearts in high school. Hell, even some of the girls exchanged them with each other, for various reasons.

Once I got out of high school and went to college, I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing my HS ring. In fact, I gave mine to my younger sister, after she lost hers in the restroom at the St. Louis airport.

It would be a real cold day in hell before I'd ever cough up $1100 for a class ring for my kids!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

29. My high school ring was

$180 in 1988 and that was considered kind of high. And it was a pinkie ring! LOL! <--abbreviation

My college ring was about $280 and it was more special....I only just recently stopped wearing it (it's an Aggie ring, and Aggies tend to wear those forever).

But my high school ring? By middle of my freshman year in college, it went into a jewelry box never to come out again.

My friend--her parents gave her a ring that was not a class ring, but they had her graduation year engraved on the inside so it served, symbolically, as her class ring and she still wears it because it is quite pretty and it doesn't look like a class ring.

[Lady Effingbroke]

31. I paid about $75 for my high school ring in 1987, IIRC.

Just the plain 'ol standard class ring, stainless steel or some such metal. There were all kinds of fancy options for class rings, but since I had to buy it myself and I knew I would only wear it for a couple years, the cheapest ring was the best option. Nice to hear that people are either buying alternative rings or opting out of the class ring racket altogether!

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. Mine was $72 for a metal called Luminex. MrG still wears his

and I am really glad I've still got mine. Sweet memories. :hi:

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

35. My wedding ring only cost $75.

It's just a simple gold band. I'm not a big fan of wasting money on jewelry. I don't wear a whole lot of jewelry anyhow. I just wear my ring and cheap digit watch.

I never bought a class ring in high school, and neither did any of my friends. I also never spent money on the prom, a letter jacket, or graduation pictures. I didn't think that stuff was worth spending my parents money on.

[Kat45]

36. WTF are diamonds doing on high school rings?

I remember HS rings just being one stone, probably fake (or a cheap semi-precious one). I think there might have been a choice of color for your stone, but I'm not sure. Diamonds? That's absurd, as is the price. Totally ridiculous.

I'm curious--is there any other high school ring company besides Josten's? That's the one we had when I was in HS in the seventies.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

38. Yes

Balfour also does HS class rings. Josten's does our graduation stuff, though. And yearbook!

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

37. That's ridiculous.

I bought mine for around 200 from Balfour when I was a sophomore. It looked something like this:



Except that the stone was blue and it said 2005, and the symbols were different.

$1,155 is EXTREME. Nobody I know spent that much on a freaken ring.

[loafie]

48. Mine looked exactly like that.

including the purple stone. I loved it and wore it for 2 years after graduating. Then I lost it. Don't tell my mom.

[yellowcanine]

39. I would think they would be lowering prices - demand is down.

Isn't that the way it is supposed to work?

[flamingyouth]

40. I think mine was about $75 in 1986

I still have it. The funniest part is that our mascot was (sadly) a beaver, but the little beaver they put on the side of the ring looks like a cockroach in a fur coat. We all felt that was a much more appropriate mascot for our school.

[northzax]

41. I must confess, I don't understand class rings

especially nowadays when a high school education will get you a job at McDonald's. Personally, I went to prep school and private college. I don't know anyone who got expensive presents for graduation, it was expected (I personally got the last bill from my college stamped "paid in full" I don't even hang my diplomas on the wall, anyone they're going to impress I don't really want to impress. And spending money on Prom makes sense if you are never going to get dressed up and go out dancing again in your lifetime.

Does nayone actually care where you went to high school? I have some friends from there, and a good education, and have used connections to get places, but nothing that would have been improved with a

But to each his own, I guess.

[Left Is Write]

43. I agree...

High school rings seem sort of anachronistic in today's world.

Honestly, I don't know too many people who wear their college rings either.

[Mist]

42. Class rings are the most hyped junk EVER

I used to work in a pawn shop. Virtually every class ring we ever got in went to the scrap metal dealer.

[crispini]

46. I have my mom's high school class ring.

I really like it. Class of 1947 I believe. It doesn't have a big ugly fake gem in the middle, and it's real gold. I wear it a lot. But I didn't get a class ring... I looked, but I thought they were all ugly as hell.

[TX-RAT]

47. White gold in 68 was 45 dollars