does anyone know if they still offer other ring styles besides the 'official' nc state rings? i was looking online and the balfour site only shows the official rings

i'm trying to replace a class ring i bought in 2002

also, are there still major ring sales at the bookstore (perhaps for the holidays/december graduation)? i bought mine for like half off and it would be nice to save money again the second time around, if possible

thanks for any help

11/20/2006 9:22:47 AM

Call whoever made it. They never destroy their molds (I think) and if you previously bought from them then they should have your ring specifications on file.

11/20/2006 9:29:48 AM

thanks, i'm out of the country so i was putting off calling them but that sounds promising

11/20/2006 11:40:47 AM

i dont know if you can get anything besides the "offical" ring now unless you have it custom made

and you wont get that on sale

11/20/2006 6:22:52 PM

i never understood why people wore college/hs rings

11/20/2006 6:29:27 PM

i have a college ring & wear it everyday

it isnt the "offical" ring, it looks more like a normal piece of jewelry and i actually get a lot of compliments on it

i guess its just personal preference

11/20/2006 6:36:06 PM

didn't they switch to generic chass ring and generic engineering ring recently where you can't get anything of any personal meaning? (so as to get the most $ out of a contract that allows one and only one company to make ncsu rings)

11/20/2006 7:05:50 PM

Quote :

"i dont know if you can get anything besides the "offical" ring now unless you have it custom made and you wont get that on sale"

yeah, i don't think you can get something made from the major manufacturers these days that isn't the "official" one

11/20/2006 7:26:25 PM

I think they made the one official ring so everyone would have the same ring and it would be a new tradition or something

11/20/2006 7:45:01 PM

Traditions should come from parts of local culture that are so liked that they naturally endure, not from bureaucratic profit making restrictions.

11/20/2006 8:28:10 PM

I'm not sure if the ring exchange is still going on. If not, i'm sure they will bring it back.

http://www.alumni.ncsu.edu/news/article.php?id=203&print=yes

11/20/2006 9:12:20 PM

i got my ring the year before they did the switch to the "offical" ring

11/20/2006 9:34:14 PM

thanks for the help, i'd like to avoid getting the official ring if possible so bummer if that becomes my only option (i'll pay full price, but if custom ordering gets really expensive it might not be worth it right now at least)

i've had my ring for over 4yrs, and much like NCSUWolfy, generally wore it everyday (until losing it while traveling recently) and it was basically just a regular piece of jewelry

i understand the concept of the 'official' ring, but since it became official after the fact for me, i prefer the style i originally had

11/21/2006 3:51:08 AM

This reminds me, is the official ring going to change now that we no longer use that version of the block S?

11/21/2006 4:12:39 AM

Quote :

"I think they made the one official ring so everyone would have the same ring and it would be a new tradition or something"

I think it has more to do with driving down costs of production so they can make a better profit.

11/21/2006 9:08:05 AM

so you're suggesting that Balfour, the ring company, forced NCSU to come up with an official ring design to save themselves money?

11/21/2006 9:15:24 AM

So you're suggesting they couldn't

11/21/2006 9:35:08 AM

before the switch i remember there typically being 3 different ring manufactures in and around the bookstore several times a year, not just Balfour. This was NCSU's decision.

I think it's more likely that it was a deal between the company and NCSU. The company only makes the rings NCSU wants (limited customization is downside for potential customers), but they get the majority of the business and like you said it cuts down on production costs. It's a bit of a risk for balfour, in the past they made whatever ring the customer wanted (for about the same price to the customer), now they have to hope that people actually like and buy the rings NCSU wants. Like I said, they justify this because they are the official ring company so they'll get most of the business and they've cut production costs.

11/21/2006 9:40:53 AM