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Home / Articles / Class ring

Articles > Class ring

A class ring (also known as a graduate, or grad, ring) is a ring worn by students and alumni to commemorate their graduation, generally for a high school, college, or university.

Significance
Today these rings are often personalized by each student, although in years past they were uniform to the school's standard, and only the year would change. A typical class ring depends upon the gender of the person wearing the ring; men's rings are larger than women's. The color is usually gold; however, even that can differ from school to school, and students can order their ring in white gold, silver, or various non-precious metal alloys. The center stone is traditionally one of the school's colors, but the size and cut can be individually customized to the student's desire (as well as the size of the ring). Jostens, Balfour, Herff Jones, and ArtCarved are four major companies that sell class rings to students. There are also small up and coming manufacturers that produce class rings such as Jecstar.

An average high school class ring compared to a quarter by Jostens. It is 10K white gold and has a satin finish.

Personalizations

Color

White gold or gold are the traditional metals

A satin finish shows the entire ring in gold

An antique finish uses a black enamel to highlight the details of the ring

Many rings are available in two-tone (white and yellow Gold)

Silver rings are available from some schools and companies

Higher-end rings are sometimes offered in platinum

Sometimes, rings are offered in non-precious metal alloys

Top

Most rings will have the name of the school engraved in a circular pattern around the stone (this is simpler for the usually larger men's ring).

Carats

10 carat gold

14 carat gold

18 carat gold

Color

As stated above, the traditional color for the ring is the school's primary color

Many people also opt for the color of their birthstone

Shape

Rectangle

Oval

Cut

Many times the ring will have cuts inside the stone to give off an extra shine or sparkle; these can vary by company and personal desire

Sides

The year of graduation is generally engraved somewhere on the ring

Usually the school's logo, insignia, or motto will be on one side of the ring

Often a student's academic or social organizations will be on the opposite side of the ring

Fraternities and sororities

Honor societies

Sports teams

Extracurricular activities

Clubs/civic organizations

Underside

Many students have their name, initials, or nickname engraved on the underside of the ring, underneath the stone

Cost

$100-800

How to wear

  The class ring is usually worn on the ring finger of the right hand, as the ring finger of the left hand is reserved for a wedding band in many cultures (however, more than a few persons wear their class ring on the same finger as the wedding ring with the wedding ring slightly beveled in order for both rings to properly fit together, this is the traditional manner of wearing a class ring from a US service academy). The ring ought always to be worn so that the insignia faces the wearer when his or her arm is outstretched (Vanderbilt, Complete Book of Etiquette p. 156).
  Especially in high school, a boyfriend and girlfriend may exchange class rings. The boy usually wears the girl's class ring on his pinky finger, while the girl wears the boy's class ring around her neck on a golden chain.

    Trivia

The tradition of class rings started with the class of 1835 at West Point.

The X-Ring, which is synonymous with Canada's St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) in Nova Scotia, is awarded to the graduating class at StFX. The tradition of the ring dates back to 1942. The first X-Ring Ceremony was held in October 1958.

Neil Armstrong's Purdue University Class of 1955 ring, which he took with him to the moon, is on display on Purdue's campus today.

Herff Jones usually conducts a ring ceremony at high schools in which the students spin the ring the amount of years the tradition has started minus one to the left and on the last turn to the right.

The MIT class ring, known as the Brass Rat, traditionally has no stone.

One especially unusual ring is that of Regent University, which not only has no stone, but has the emblem reversed. See this page for pictures and an explanation of why the rings are so designed. Strictly speaking, this is not a class ring; its design is standard for all graduates of the school (men's and women's versions are available), and it has no engraving on the side. Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, also hands out class rings with no stone and a reversed image of the school crest. Regent founder Pat Robertson is a W&L graduate, which may have inspired him to use such a ring for his school.

Ecclesiastical ring

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