Class Rings Today?

brewmeist said:
He mentioned that he is getting his ring today. God help him if he doesn't Facetime his mother tonight...
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If yours is like mine, he’ll be over the moon and over the top about the ring. The ring itself is a nice piece of jewelry, but I think it’s what it symbolizes that means the most: “One year away. This is actually happening. Wow.”

(By the way, I told DD I couldn’t wait to buy her a drink in Naptown after she turned 21. It’s now been eight months and I’m still waiting. Every time we visit her, there’s a reason why she decides not to order a drink. And I guess — parental ceremony aside — I’m OK with that. 😉)
 
Is it my imagination or are class rings not the "thing" they were in my day? In our day, almost everyone was SO excited to select rings and anxiously awaited the day we would receive it. It was the RARE 1/C who didn't wear his / her ring all the time. Now, when I'm at USNA, I see quite a few firsties without them. Most younger grads also don't seem to wear them (in situations where you'd expect them to be worn).

This post is NOT meant to start a debate about whether one should or shouldn't wear a ring -- it's obviously a personal decision. I'm merely curious whether things have changed in the intervening years and, if so, why.

[The above posts suggest I may be wrong. Happens once in a blue moon:p].
 
I think the value of the tradition of a class ring has declined in general as a society. My DS is the only one he knows in his small early college high school that bought one. So I think it's starting at the high school level and carries over. The same with letterman jackets that were all the rave when my brothers graduated in the early 90s, and so few people had them when I graduated in the late 90s that I didn't bother getting one. 20 years later and you might see one or two high school kids wearing them at a football game. Maybe it's just our area, but there's definitely been a decline in interest, so maybe that's carried over to the college level at USNA?
 
I can say at my high school letterman jackets are worn every now and then and only a few people wear class rings. I think if I was an Academy grad I'd be quite proud of my ring but who knows :) I do agree with the above statement that they have declined in interest. High school pride seems to have dwindled in general.
 
usna1985 said:
Is it my imagination or are class rings not the "thing" they were in my day?
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Will speak only for DD and her closest set of shipmates. They were gaga with anticipation, they were gaga when the rings arrived, they were gaga when they wore them to that first big ceremony. Took DD and her roommate to dinner in DTA a few weeks ago and both wore their rings. A few shipmates stayed at our place over winter break and all wore their rings. It’s anecdotal, and perhaps not representative, but this set of mids thought the ring is a big deal.
 
MidCakePa said:
Will speak only for DD and her closest set of shipmates. They were gaga with anticipation, they were gaga when the rings arrived, they were gaga when they wore them to that first big ceremony. Took DD and her roommate to dinner in DTA a few weeks ago and both wore their rings. A few shipmates stayed at our place over winter break and all wore their rings. It’s anecdotal, and perhaps not representative, but this set of mids thought the ring is a big deal.
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My DS is acutely aware of the "ring knocker" reputation/stereotype and absolutely refused to order a ring of any kind - at first. My wife took him to the woodshed as only a mother can do and said "You WILL buy a ring and I WILL pay for it. Whether or not you wear it is your own business." He wound up getting a combat ring only (not sure how he managed that because I thought you had to get the more expensive one too). I wonder where (and from who) they are hearing the ring knocker thing from.
 
usna1985 said:
Is it my imagination or are class rings not the "thing" they were in my day? In our day, almost everyone was SO excited to select rings and anxiously awaited the day we would receive it. It was the RARE 1/C who didn't wear his / her ring all the time. Now, when I'm at USNA, I see quite a few firsties without them. Most younger grads also don't seem to wear them (in situations where you'd expect them to be worn).

This post is NOT meant to start a debate about whether one should or shouldn't wear a ring -- it's obviously a personal decision. I'm merely curious whether things have changed in the intervening years and, if so, why.

[The above posts suggest I may be wrong. Happens once in a blue moon:p].
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I agree that fewer people, including Midshipmen, wear their rings on a regular basis, but I would guess that most do purchase them. My son will not be wearing his on a daily basis. Probably just special events. Ring dance, graduation, weddings, etc... Any time he will be in formal dress. I'm the same way with my wedding band. I only wear it when I'm wearing a suit. My ring finger surely would have been missing by this point in my life with the work I do with my hands.
 
The "ring knocker" thing has been around forever. On the positive side, it means grads sharing a bond and helping other grads. On the negative side it represents the perception that USNA grads see themselves as "better" than officers from other accession programs. The term derives from the fact that grads could / would knock their big rings on a table because they alone had the big rings (Texas A&M & others might disagree with that).

In our squadron, there was a bit of truth on both sides. When the CO was a grad, most of the best jobs went to grads. When the CO was not a grad, the converse happened. I didn't like that but it definitely occurred in my little microcosm many years ago.
 
usna1985 said:
Is it my imagination or are class rings not the "thing" they were in my day? In our day, almost everyone was SO excited to select rings and anxiously awaited the day we would receive it. It was the RARE 1/C who didn't wear his / her ring all the time. Now, when I'm at USNA, I see quite a few firsties without them. Most younger grads also don't seem to wear them (in situations where you'd expect them to be worn).

This post is NOT meant to start a debate about whether one should or shouldn't wear a ring -- it's obviously a personal decision. I'm merely curious whether things have changed in the intervening years and, if so, why.

[The above posts suggest I may be wrong. Happens once in a blue moon:p].
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Within the Brigade I actually don’t know anyone who regularly wears their ring. Some do on special occasions but even that’s rare. I seldom wear mine. Will wear it during Commissioning week, to my classmate’s wedding, and to class reunions in the future. May wear it more frequently in the future depending on whether it’s “in style” wherever I’m stationed.
 
How times change . . .

I wonder if some of the change has to do with the decline in attrition. When 25 - 35% of a class attrited, the ring became a symbol of having survived / made it through. :) Now that attrition hovers around 10%, getting through may not be perceived as the "accomplishment" it once was. [This is not to start a debate about whether it was "harder" then vs. now, only that -- for various reasons -- a significantly higher percentage of those who raise their hands on I-Day now graduate.]
 
Rings (especially male rings) are not very popular anymore. I never wear my wedding ring mainly because I don’t want to get it caught in woodworking tools. Also, (and this uninformed speculation on my part) isn’t SA officer accession a much smaller source for the officer corps that it once was?

I remember the scene in Hunt for Red October where Fred Thompson’s character says to his XO something to the effect of “You see that ring on the Kid’s hand? Class of ‘something or other’” when Jack Ryan leaves the captain’s quarters on the carrier. Seems like it used to be a more important symbol.
 
usna1985 said:
Is it my imagination or are class rings not the "thing" they were in my day? In our day, almost everyone was SO excited to select rings and anxiously awaited the day we would receive it.
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> I agree.... I remember we got our about this time 2nd Class year.... at least in our company, there was kind of a tradition where we were supposed to wear them a number of hours (I'm guessing 85 hours) before Ring Dance. (A 2nd Class didn't rate wearing the ring until Ring Dance -- and the "penalty" for getting caught was to buy the Firstie that caught you a soda.

I consider my Ring one of my most cherished possesions (along with the Gold NFO Wings that my wife bought me), Neither make it out of the safe very often -- the ring is simply to heavy to wear comfortably , particularly when I type. I only wear the ring for Class Reunions and BGO appearances these days.

ders_dad said:
My DS is acutely aware of the "ring knocker" reputation/stereotype and absolutely refused to order a ring of any kind - at first.
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usna1985 said:
n our squadron, there was a bit of truth on both sides. When the CO was a grad, most of the best jobs went to grads. When the CO was not a grad, the converse happened. I didn't like that but it definitely occurred in my little microcosm many years ago.
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> The term "ring knocker" goes back a long ways, but realistically has nothing to do with actually wearing or owning a ring. You can be a "ring knocker" without wearing the ring..... I really don't recall a whole lot of "ring knocking" going on in my VP squadron (same location and same era as '85), but then , I think only one of my Skippers and a handful of OLA's were Academy grads,
 
I doubt much has changed in regards to how many Mids get a ring, wear the ring, etc etc etc. If they want one, get one, if not don't. If they want to wear it, wear it, if not don't. I'll preach to my DS, "who gives a F what others think..." be the best you can be and otherwise do what makes you happy. What is vogue today won't be in a decade or so and then the cycle will repeat, eventually. I'll be shocked if, e.g., silicone rings are in style ten or so years from now.
 
Like many things commerative and special just for a class, my experience is that a person probably won’t regret purchasing/having none. But they MAY regret NOT getting one, years from now. Who knows….maybe even someday sharing the stone with their own child when they are curating their own design 💙
 
Their class crest and the ring and other items of men’s and women’s class crest jewelry are available through the USNA Alumni Assn ring vendors. If a grad wants one when they’re 70 and finally going to a reunion, he or she can easily order one. DH has given away all his cufflinks except the pair I gave him in 14k gold with his USNA class crest for a significant milestone; he wears them when he wants to feel dressed to the max.

DH said in his day (20th. C.), Bancroft room doors had opaque glass panels. The OOD or company officer would knock on the glass with the ring before entering.
 
Last fall my Plebe texted me the stone he wanted...LOL! He was REALLY thinking ahead 😅
 
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