15 January 2010

The Class Ring

Patrick and I looked at jostens.com until late Thursday night. Some of these designs are very unique. Patrick played around with all kinds of different styles and finally decided on a beaut for about $300. He would get the "gamer" style on one side (it pictures what is OBVIOUSLY a Nintendo DS) and a dragon on the other. The system pictured would be dated in a few years, but it's the memories that count.

Did you know Jostens also sells THREE Barack Obama styles?? I kid you not.

Barack Obama high school rings?? No Washington or (my fave!) John Quincy Adams rings?? Man, Jesus doesn't even have His own style with Jostens, but Obama gets three gaudy styles - your choice of custom colour, some complete with the American flag.

Patrick thought and thought and thought about it, but finally decided that he would appreciate a ring, but didn't think he'd appreciate it $300 worth. Which is probably a wise decision as aside from a mood ring we got at the Fall Festival once when he was eight, I don't think he's ever worn a ring in his life. It would take some getting used to.

But I really think Patrick ought to have that opportunity, if not this year, then certainly next. We can at least look more at the styles and you can pop ideas in your head for next year. Just think about it.

Noo... it's ok, he told me. But let's look at the website some more and design a ring with lotsa bling!

Hey, ok. We were doodling with the Sheer Ice style, only $1,364 before sales tax, shipping and customization. We had his initials on the thing and all kinds of options were going on.

D came upstairs and said no, he couldn't believe the cheapest ring is $300. Well... it was the cheapest WE could find.

*flip, flip* Cheaper than THIS one?

I don't know how he does it, but he found the cheapest ring just like that. I kept getting distracted by all the pictures and options, but there it was. You get NO choice on the stone colour or what the sides look like (except for your grad year) but thankfully the school colour is the default colour and it is JUST the colour he had picked out on the more expensive ring!! (No, not the Sheer Ice one. Those are pure diamonds, baby!)

D has agreed he will pay $125 of the ring's cost, and I'm thinking the ring will be a few dollars over or under that amount once you figure in taxes, shipping and whatever other charge they want to put on it. Yep. "Basic Options" in the cheapest metal is listed at $85.95. Add initial engraving to the inside for an extra charge, and there you go. I think he'll be happy with it.

8 comments:

  1. I'm a little kumfuzzled. Out here everyone signs each others' outworn school shirts & we're all done. The real bright sparks then jump in the ocean & the ink runs but I think it's cheaper than a class ring. Wow!

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  2. I think that's really nice of D and I'm glad Patrick will have a ring. He's such a good kid.

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  3. LOL Ganeida, I've seen that! Ruins a perfectly good uniform, and they'll never look at it again, but I guess it's cheaper.

    Here they also print up "yearbooks" for your friends to sign. It's like a hardback coffee table novel with glossy pics of all your friends. More money. :)

    Bonnie, I think so, too! He truly doesn't have much in the way of extra "trappings" and comforts. He got two new pairs of jeans this year... otherwise pretty much everything is thrift store. Poor guy; I wouldn't have put up with it at his age.

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  4. You know Walmart sells class rings for around $80, right?

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  5. Does your DH or your/his father or maybe an uncle have a high school class ring with family meaning you could present as an heirloom, thus authentic connections it would always have for him, even if he seldom wears it?

    I gave Favorite Daughter my high school class ring when she started dual-enrolling at the community college. She wasn't 16 yet, had never been to school and I knew lots of her classmates on campus would be wearing them. I figured I had been such a big part of her education that it was a perfect fit to give her a class ring that represented where I'd learned whatever she was getting at home.

    Btw she is still wearing it as a university junior, and a couple of months ago when it was time to get the college ring, she decided she'd rather have a garnet bracelet I inherited, because her school colors are garnet and gold and it will be unique, just like she is. And her dad likes the FREE part . . . ;-)

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  6. LOL JJ! Sore point there. I grew up with a little money and D says his class rings were bread twist ties.

    I love the garnet bracelet idea. When I was thinner, I had one I wore all. the. time. myself. Memories! :)

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  7. Then I think it's doubly great (and meaningful!) that D is all-in on paying for Patrick to have a new one. :)

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  8. Mrs. C, you could've saved some good money if you would've bought your high school class ring direct from the factory. Dunham high school class rings sells high quality class rings at lower prices.

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Non-troll comments always welcome! :)

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