Every year students are informed about the opportunity to purchase class jewelry. Students can choose from a wide variety, such as necklaces, lockets or the classic, rings. Here are six reasons why I believe class jewelry is not all it’s cracked up to be.

It’s expensive.
This is one of the main reasons why many people don’t end up getting any class jewelry. Even the cheapest of adornments is upwards of 100 dollars, with the most expensive being around 500 dollars or more. The extravagant price of the jewelry is not justifiable for what you get.

There are better keepsakes than jewelry.
Many people argue that they want something to remember high school by, so they invest in a ring or another piece of jewelry. There are many other cheaper and more meaningful alternatives to this. Examples include a simple photograph with a frame, or even just something that you value.

High school students have better things to spend their money on.
Many students do not have the money or aren’t willing to spend it on class jewelry, as there are more important things in high school to buy or save up for. Students would much rather spend money on cars, college savings or other necessities relating to the teenage years and early adulthood. Often times, the jewelry being sold isn’t worth as much as sellers charge.

It’s not the prettiest. (especially the rings!)
All the class memorabilia that I’ve seen isn’t very attractive. None of the options look very appealing and it’s not something I would want to wear or have on my finger. Related to that, often times the words or design people get inscribed on their jewelry are things they often do on a whim, and they aren’t thinking about the long term.

It’s often not worn and usually forgotten about.
Class jewelry is a purchase that sounds cool at the time when the person selling it to you puts a silver lining on it. I know people that have bought class jewelry, more specifically class rings. Most of them forgot they even had a ring until I asked them if they had one or not. This shows that the jewelry didn’t hold much value over time.

It’s an outdated tradition.
Class jewelry sales in recent years have declined by almost half according to many school websites. The interest from people wanting to buy them is constantly decreasing. Personally, I forgot that class rings were a thing, and I didn’t even know that there were other types of jewelry until the entire grade was given the presentation on them. This type of memorabilia was more popular in previous generations.