Bling, bling – it’s time for senior rings.

Balfour will be here on Dec. 7 to start collecting orders from the junior class for their senior ring.

In recent years, there has been a change in the interest in senior rings. More and more students are choosing to order less traditional rings from places like James Jewel Box, Kay Jewelers, and Pandora that they can wear everyday. However, there is still a large number choosing to get the classic senior ring.

When choosing what type of ring you will get to symbolize the beginning of this new chapter in your life, many questions come to mind. How much money are you willing to spend? What colors and engravings should you place on it? Should you even get engravings? Where should you buy your ring? Do you prefer a more traditional or modern ring? Here are thoughts from two seniors on this issue:

Ainsley Gordon:

I had to take these questions into consideration at the beginning of my junior year. Making quick decisions had never been my strong suit and this choice was no exception. It also didn’t help that the people in my life were giving me conflicting advice. On one hand, my sister and mother were recommending a more modern ring. And on the other, my friends were expressing how they preferred the more traditional rings similar to those that our parents got.

My sister had graduated just a few years before and she had bought a traditional ring from Balfour. While she did like the ring, she told me that after her senior year, she barely wore it. For the high price of the ring, she didn’t think that she got her money’s worth.

After much deliberation, I decided to not purchase a traditional senior ring. At the time, I started to become more interested in jewelry, but I didn’t have a good quality ring that I could wear daily. So, I concluded that this would be the perfect opportunity to change that. I bought my ring from Etsy after a few months of looking for the perfect ring that I would wear everyday.

Ultimately, my ring doesn’t look like most senior rings and if you saw it, you might think I was wearing just another ring. However, while it might not mean much to someone else, a senior ring should represent your transition into this new point in your life and mean something to you.

Lindsey Spencer:

Personally, I purchased the traditional senior class ring. Like Ainsley, my sister got the classic senior ring from Balfour and she made me want to get the ring I did because I thought hers was beautiful. I actually ended up getting the same exact style she did.  I knew from the first mention of class rings that I wanted the classic silver ring, but I did want it to be smaller and more feminine- not the big bulky rings of the past.

Most of my friends went for the more modern, everyday rings and for a while, they influenced my decision process and I debated whether or not I should go along with them. However, I ultimately decided to not go for that style ring because I wanted it to truly represent my school and my high school experiences, since I got the Charger mascot head and the engravings of the sports I played – cross country and track.

I’m going to be honest, my ring was quite expensive and I only wear it on special occasions. But I think those things make my ring more special to me because of the value and sentiment it brings by not being worn everyday. I didn’t want a regular piece of jewelry that I wouldn’t even be able to tell it was my senior ring.

The choice of what senior ring you purchase is up to you. Whether you want to buy a traditional ring or not depends on your preference. So, before you buy it, you might want to take some of these factors into consideration to decide what’s best for you.