Believing it has found an excellent investment opportunity, Venture Capital has entered into two separate agreements to buy all of the assets of two companies, Barclay and Claridge, that manufacture and distribute high school class rings. Following the two acquisitions, Venture Capital plans to consolidate the operations of the two companies. Class rings are rings manufactured and sold to high school students to commemorate their graduation. Although students often purchase or receive other commemorative items at graduation, few students have switched to other types of commemorative jewelry when the price of class rings has increased significantly. Class rings are generally made of gold, silver or steel alloy metals and often include a precious stone, the school name, date of graduation and various other inscriptions.
Students purchase their rings at their schools or at retail jewelry stores.
The sale of class rings is a uniquely American phenomena. There are 4 major manufacturers of class rings. Barclay and Claridge are 2 of the 4. On the other hand, Claridge sells all of its high school class rings through retail jewelry stores. Harlan and the remaining smaller manufacturers sell their rings only through schools.