Top WA schools join American tradition of offering Year 12 students class rings as memento of high school

Elite schools in Perth are joining a growing trend towards offering Year 12 graduates a class ring or other gift as a memento of their high school years. Wearing a signet ring to show a student’s allegiance to their old school has been commonplace in US schools for many years, with the tradition reportedly starting at the prestigious West Point Military Academy in 1835. But the concept had been slow to take off in Australian schools — until recently. More Perth schools are giving graduation gifts such as rings, neck-laces or cufflinks to students or making them available for parents to buy, with an average cost of between $30 and $60. Taking it to the next level is South Perth jeweller Soklich & Co, which is offering Wesley College graduates custom-made rings, pictured, with a starting price of $700 for silver and upwards of $2000 for gold. Co-owner Lexie Soklich said they sold about 10 rings after they first began offering them late last year and she planned to expand to more schools. “We probably will be getting into doing more of these signet rings as we go along — it is something that we’re working towards but it is also a new concept and kind of hard to sell to Australians,” she said. “It’s more of an American concept.” Ms Soklich said former students who bought rings would do so because they enjoyed their time at school. “Every time they look at the ring they will be reminded of the good times they had with their friends,” she said. Part of the proceeds go to Wesley’s Parents & Friends Association. Christine Levas, director and co-founder of Meritis that sells school-crested sterling silver giftware, said few schools were providing graduation gifts when the business started seven years ago. “It’s really caught on since then,” she said. Ms Levas said most of her clients were on the east coast but more WA schools were offering graduation gifts, including Trinity College and Santa Maria College. She said necklaces with a school crest were a favourite for girls and rings or cuff links were popular for boys.