We want to highlight some Aggies wearing their Maroon Out shirts! (Any year!!!)

maroonout:

Submit a picture of yourself with a Maroon Out shirt on! We wanna see all the Red Ass Ags of Tumblr! 

http://maroonout.tumblr.com/submit

History of the Aggie Ring

1876 Texas A&M College opens

1889 Oldest known Aggie Ring made this year.

1894 Edward C. Jonas ’94, captain of C Company, chosen to design a new Aggie Ring (he had designed the Commencement programs 1891-1894)

The Ring committee awards contract to a Bryan jeweler.  The resulting Rings are inspected by Professor P.S. Tilson ’89, who discovered they were weighted with lead.

1899 R.J. Poulter is chosen as chairman of a committee to select the 1899 class Ring

Linz Brothers Jewelry Company of Dallas submits design sketches for the Ring

A meeting is held by Poulter’s committee in J.B. Sterns’ room to discuss the designs.  During this meeting the suggestion is made to have the classes of ’00, ’01, and ’02 adopt the design to perpetuate the tradition./1899-Linz Brothers quotes a lower price for rings if Junior, Sophomore and Freshman classes would vote to use the same design

The classes agree to perpetuate the design

1900 The class of ’00 buy their rings from Linz Brothers for $10.50, after testing a ring proved their metallic purity

The classes of ’01 and ’02 did not all buy rings from Linz Brothers; they could not hold a monopoly over the manufacture of the Ring

1912 The state seal and crossed weapons changes sides

1926 The state seal and crossed weapons again change sides

1930 Rings made from 1930-1935 were primarily manufactured by Herff Jones Company

1933 Officers of the class of ’31 petitions the A&M faculty to restrict purchase of the Aggie Ring to students who have attained at least the second semester of their Junior year

Texas A&M President T.O. Walton appoints an Official Senior Ring Committee to standardize the Ring design, create more control for Ring distribution and manufacture, and eliminate some of the undesirable practices connected with handling class Ring orders.  The committee was to consider proposals for rings for the classes ‘35-’39.  No stones (diamonds,rubies) were considered.  Rings would average 12 pennyweight.  Their goal was modernization of the old design while retaining essential features.  The words “Texas A&M College – 1876” were added around the crown

The Star Engraving Company of Houston is awarded a 5 year contract.  Distributors in the Bryan/College Station area that were chosen were John S. Caldwell and Sankey Park

1934 Star Engraving files for a patent on the Ring designed by John Boehme

1935 The Texas and United States flags were added behind the crossed cannon, rifle and saber.  Wording was changed to “A&M College of Texas – 1876” (this design will not change again until 1963)

April - Star Engraving secures a seven year patent of Ring design

April 23 - Star Engraving transfers rights of patent #95172 to Texas A&M College

1937 C.W. Varner is added as a distributor of Rings

1939 Registrar’s Office begins distributing rings with the class of ’39, to exercise tighter control

Josten Company of Owatonna, Minnesota is awarded a contract to supply rings for the classes ‘40-42

1942 Josten Company’s contract is extended to 1948

Ring patent is allowed to expire

1948 L.G. Balfour Company of Attelboro Massachusetts is awarded a three year contract to supply Rings

1963 Legislature changes name of the school to Texas A&M University.  The Ring lettering is correspondingly changed

1963 - 1966 - These class years have an option of College or University

J.B. “Josh” Sterns ‘99 conceives idea of a permanent ring collection

1967 All students of this class year and forward are required to have A&M University lettering on their Ring

1970s Rose and White Gold w/ Antique finishes become available to give students options beyond the Yellow Gold W/ Antique

1972 Balfour’s lifetime warranty for Rings available

1998 Rings are manufactured in a solid one piece design

Natural finish becomes available

Ring finishes

Tara B:

Hubby and I both have antique finish on our Class of ‘99 Aggie Rings.  Our reasoning was, it’s the only finish where you can look at the ring and immediately see the year and tell it’s an Aggie Ring.  A lot of other schools now have the brighter gold (see: Texas & Baylor) so we went with the traditional antique.

Thanks for the input, Tara! I love hearing the reasons people chose their finishes, because I rarely hear two that are the same!

If anyone else wants to comment on rings or send pics of other finishes (I haven’t been able to find good pictures of white gold or polara on the internet!) please do! I think it’s really interesting to hear what other Ags thought when purchasing their rings, so feel free to send your story!

Thanks, and gig ‘em!

Aggie Ring Question (Re: Rose Finish and Options)

drydustybones:

In response to the question you just posted, I don’t think that rose finish as available any longer. Sometimes, different classes will have different options for styles/finishes, etc. If a Former is ordering a ring or replacement, he can choose from the options that were available to his class. However, those who are not a member of his class might not have the same options. So if rose was an option for one class (or even multiple classes), but isn’t any longer, one does not have the option. The current order form only has the natural, antique, Polara, and white gold options.

As an aside, I’ve considered white gold for my own ring because I typically choose that or silver over gold. I hesitate because it is not as recognizable. The “natural” ring is the obvious, in your face, here I am, Aggie ring that can be spotted without question. A white gold, or sometimes even an antiqute finish, is not any less valuable, but it doesn’t make the same bold statement that a natural ring does. Just my personal opinion. Hope this has helped!

Thanks for the input! I wasn’t sure about the rose finish at all, so I’m glad someone knows what they’re talking about!

I will not make any recommendations to anyone about their Ring because it’s just that: THEIR Ring. If you want to know more about when the finishes were made available or anything, you can always check out AggieNetwork.com. They have the best info I’ve seen!

But, if you want to know how I came to my decision, I can definitely tell you a bit of my thought process. Personally, I opted for the antique finish for two reasons: 1) I love the way it looks. A lot! 2) It’s the “traditional” finish, or the “original” if you will (for the current design, at least!). This is not to say I’m against other finishes or anything! Quite the contrary! I think the fact that we have a choice is really fantastic! But for me personally, the allure of the “traditional” option was sort of romantic, as I tend to romanticize a lot of things (including “Old Army” traditions!). 

I think your Aggie Ring should be about YOU. Which do you like best, which will you wear every day for the rest of your life and still smile every time you put it on? They all bear the same markings. They’re ALL Aggie Rings. And that’s what matters, right?