Badge Trends? - Page 59

GTAlphaPhi · #**871** 03-23-2010, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I think we all understand! The lazy phi badges are for presidents and national officers only so regular members just get to have the standard badge with pearls and diamonds as stone options, right?

Yes ma'am. I think I'd pass out from badge lust out if I ever saw a lazy phi pin on eBay or at a sale.

I also have 2 pins that have our letters, but aren't even close to our design. I'll try to photograph those as well to post and let the expert GCers try to shed some light.

AOIIalum · #**872** 03-23-2010, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Yeah...ours is just the letters and that ruby at the apex! I do have an interesting picture I should post of a mistake badge HJ made with our all pearl badge with a pearl instead of a ruby at the apex. It made it all the way to the Emporium website before anyone noticed!

I made sure to download it. I actually didn't even notice it. My co-worker had been looking at all of my badges and said, "How come that one doesn't have a ruby on it?"

Seriously? I want to see that picture please! I can't even imagine a pearl in place of the ruby!

momof4girls · #**873** 03-23-2010, 06:46 PM

Here's another catalog I found. 1923 J.R. Wood & Sons. I love that it has the prices.

NOTE: According to Dorothy T. Rainwater's book "American Jewelry Manufacturers", the J. R. Wood Company was established in Brooklyn in 1850. After many years of jewelry making under that name, they merged into Lenox, Inc. [Keepsake Division] Trenton, New Jersey in 1970. Their wedding rings were sold under the trade name 'Art-Carved'. In 1975, the name of the company was changed from "J. R. Wood" to "Art-Carved Inc."

AOII Angel · #**874** 03-23-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

Seriously? I want to see that picture please! I can't even imagine a pearl in place of the ruby!

Here you go:

weird, huh?!

Actually, it had two errors, no ruby and there are no pearls on the Pi. This is supposed to be an all pearl badge.

Psi U MC Vito · #**875** 03-23-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momof4girls

Here's another catalog I found. 1923 J.R. Wood & Sons. I love that it has the prices.

NOTE: According to Dorothy T. Rainwater's book "American Jewelry Manufacturers", the J. R. Wood Company was established in Brooklyn in 1850. After many years of jewelry making under that name, they merged into Lenox, Inc. [Keepsake Division] Trenton, New Jersey in 1970. Their wedding rings were sold under the trade name 'Art-Carved'. In 1975, the name of the company was changed from "J. R. Wood" to "Art-Carved Inc."

That is awesome. Still part of me died when I read my badge labeled as Psi EPSILON.

AOII Angel · #**876** 03-23-2010, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

That is awesome. Still part of me died when I read my badge labeled as Psi EPSILON.

Awww...come on, it's almost the same thing, right?

ms_gwyn · #**877** 03-23-2010, 07:04 PM

Man....looking at those it just reaffirms my love for the Kappa Sigma and Alpha Delta Phi badges.....

The boys need to come out of the woodwork and post some (more rather) bling!

Psi U MC Vito · #**878** 03-23-2010, 07:16 PM

I really wish I had saved that pic I saw a couple months back of a Psi U badge with garnets around the edge. It was beautiful.

honeychile · #**879** 03-23-2010, 09:12 PM

Here are a couple of "different" badges:

Called just plain Sigma:

Phi Sigma Chi:

Theta Sigma Upsilon:

Not so sure that I'm loving the opals with the rubies.

rljenk · #**880** 03-23-2010, 09:31 PM

In an historical vein, several issues of Banta's Greek Exchange are available through Google books. In the first half of the 20th Century, the journal published articles and news of interest to the fraternity/sorority world.

On Page 18 of the Dec. 1921 issue, 14 NPC orgs report on their official jewelers.

LucyKKG · #**881** 03-23-2010, 10:18 PM

Sorry if I missed this, but has anyone seen pics of former NPC badges? I'm thinking of groups that merged with current NPCs. Theta Upsilon is the only one I can think of up the top of my head.

AZTheta · #**882** 03-24-2010, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetygerlily

ETA: I found it! 1880s garnet. It was in a link rather than a photo.

talk about *gobsmacked* (happily so) when I saw this!

the badge photos that are being posted keep increasing in beauty. And the old catalog pages...wow!

"custom" badge idea: I can't even imagine a Theta badge with anything other than pearls or diamonds around the edges, although we have many options available (everything EXCEPT topaz

). Our colors are black and gold; what would a badge look like with black stones around the border? OK, weird thought. Sorry.

Side Note: I live in the southwest, and most people think of turquoise paired with silver. However, many friends have wedding bands of yellow gold and turquoise. As you can see from the badge photo that was posted, it's a gorgeous combination. There are many "modern day" Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi silversmiths who work exclusively in gold and turquoise, with some other stones also incorporated (e.g. coral, in a nod to the traditional). I'd be going way off topic if I posted any of those photos, but if you do a google search you'll come across some incredible pieces.

aephi alum · #**883** 03-24-2010, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SydneyK

One of my dearest friends is in an NPC org that allows only one kind of stone on the badge. She rarely wore her badge, mainly because she didn't much like the stone to which she was limited. She mentioned this to her extremely thoughtful and resourceful hubby one day...

Fast forward a few weeks. For no occasion at all, he gave her a present. She opened the tiny box and saw her org's badge, with opals and aquamarines (her favorite stone and her birthstone, respectively). When she looked at the back of the badge, she realized that it was hers. (And no, she didn't know her badge had been missing.)

Her hubby had taken her badge to a jeweler who removed the original stones, replaced them with what my friend's hubby had requested, and cleaned the badge. (The jeweler also returned the loose original stones that had been removed from the badge.) It looks AMAZING. I'd love to post a pic, but since it's her badge, I figure she should be the one to post it... or at least give me permission to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

That was my thought. If the org simply chose to limit the jewel choices for whatever reason, that's one thing. But if the jewels chosen had meaning, even if she didn't like to wear them, that's a whole 'nother thing.

Then again, I come at this from the perspective of one in an org where the jewels are standard for a reason and we have no choice about them. While many of the personalized badges shown here are beautiful, the whole idea of personalizing one's badge with jewels seems fairly foreign to me.

That is one thoughtful husband... However, if my husband did that to my badge, I'd have to strangle him with the little chain that attaches my guard to my badge. AEPhi badges have pearls on them for a reason.

On the other hand... I've mentioned more than once (including in this thread) that I wish we had a white gold option. If my fairy godmother were to grant me unlimited funds to get a recognition pin of my own design, it would be almost identical to the badge, only in platinum, and with some combination of diamonds, emeralds, and pearls. <homer>mmm... blinged out recognition pin... *drool*</homer>

MysticCat · #**884** 03-24-2010, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ms_gwyn

The boys need to come out of the woodwork and post some (more rather) bling!

Okay, maybe I can bling a little. Like I've said, for us the jewels are standard and no personal substitutions are allowed. (For a time, a non-jeweled, scrolled-border option was available, but that has been discontinued as it doesn't comport with the official design.) We do have choices like 10K gold and gold-plate, but all badges will have 12 pearls and 6 garnets. I think I posted a picture 60-or-so pages ago, but I'll do it again:

That said, I did find this one on flickr -- diamonds in place of pearls and (maybe) rubies instead of garnets:

I know nothing of the history of it -- I seem to remember some history that a badge with diamonds and rubies was presented to our founder, Ossian Everett Mills, but I'm not finding anything about that. But wow.

Meanwhile, anyone interested in badges might like to take a look at this video:

HJGreek video on making badges.

AZTheta · #**885** 03-24-2010, 10:40 AM

^^^ thanks for the Visual Support, MysticCat! and for sharing the Blinged-out badge. Rubies and diamonds = major eye candy.

btw the Theta badge in the Herff Jones Video is diamonds and white gold. wow! I think it costs like $1300 (or more). *gasp* They showed other upgraded badges also.