Badge Question
 

The "Upgrading Badges" thread got me thinking...as a collegian, my chapter didn't let us choose what badge we wanted. Everyone received the plain gold badge.

Did your chapter allow you to choose your badge?
If so, which one did you get?

We were allowed to choose. I got the basic gold-plated badge.

Christin

We were :eek: enough at the pledge fees just with the plain badge with the dangle, so that's what we all got. I like the fact that any other sister I see from GO will have the exact same badge.

It varies from chapter to chapter. I bought a jewelled badge for around $200. Still also have my regular badge which comes with your initiation cost (I think a replacement is like $49).

I was at our Oklahoma University chapter (or they were here, I don't remember) but one of their members saw my badge and asked me (paraphrased) what I did to earn that?

I just bought it -- was willing to shell out the $$:D

It's something that apparently they give to those that earn the distinction. It's just a tradition that varies between chapters. Saw a lot of them at our national convention though.

ADPi lets you choose the badge you want, from the basic diamond to being surrounded by different stones and pearls and what not...I personally have mine surrounded by aquamarines and pearls...My birthstone...and it comes out being blue and white...adpi colors...I know one of my sister's is entirely surrounded by diamonds...it looks amazing...but it cost an arm and a leg...I also wonder about her dad's choice to pay for it, now that she has pretty much become inactive with the chapter and will also be leaving it...

Re: Badge Question
 

Wow, you weren't allowed to choose what Badge you wanted? We were allowed to choose whatever Badge we wanted, as long it wasn't the one reserved specifically for the International President.

I still got the plain Badge...because I was a Broke Azz New Member. I still have it and I wear it from time to time!

We were also allowed to choose whichever badge we wanted. Girls in my chapter are always pinned with their sister-mother's badges, and then you wear those until the badge you order comes in. I was pinned with a single tiffany diamond badge, but I bought a plain gold-clad (the cheapest one) for myself because I couldn't afford anything else. Lots of girls in my pledge class got either a plain gold or a 14 pearl badge.

I'd like to get one of the 14 pearl with diamond point badges when I have money someday -- they're gorgeous!

we can buy a jeweled badge if we would like... there are several different versions, but mine is just plain gold with a ruby in the snake's eye

We were given a choice of what badge we wanted, and at the time, we were told that we could send in the old badge to upgrade and only pay the difference between the two. Shortly after, we switched companies, and that option is no longer available to us. If we want to upgrade the badge we have to buy a whole new one. I have the plain gold one, because I had no money, and I've been considering upgrading, but I've really grown attached to the one I have, so who knows....

tke makes it easy. there is only one undergrad badge with 3 pearls on the apexes of the triangle. you can get a badge with more jewels only after you become an alumni.

We could get whatever we wanted, which I think is nice because it doesn't make anybody spend more than they want to, but the girls who still have bling-bling can go all out!

The only choice Delta Zetas are offered when they order their badges are a flush or Tiffany setting for the diamond in the lamp's flame. While it's nice knowing that every other sister is wearing a virtual twin of my badge, it would also be nice being able to personalize it a bit. And I REALLY, REALLY wish that we were allowed to wear it on a pendant or a ring. Oh well, it's still a beautiful badge :)

we are offered a couple different choices... but almost everyone I know got the plain gold one... it's just cheaper since your first semester is always more expensive than the rest.

Re: Badge Question
 

Leslie, how come your chapter required that y'all only get the plain Badge?

Prior to Initiation, we were allowed to order whatever Badge we could, providing that we could afford it. I ended up ordering the GK one because that was the only one I could afford as a new member. We got to wear our sister mom's Badges until ours came in though.

Being a colony, all of our girls were "loaned" plain gold Quills at Installation. They were allowed to order whatever they wanted. Most of them got the plain gold (either gold-tone or 14K) Quill, and a few got the silver Quill. Those are all very inexpensive, and beautiful. Only myself (an AI) and one of the collegians got the 15-pearl Quill.

I hope to see a 3-pearl Quill at Convention. They are very unusual, and not many people have them. I saw an alumna from 1950's last month. She was wearing her 20-pearl Quill. She paid $20 for it way back then! I would love to have one, but they go for over $200 on ebay now!!! I don't know anywhere else to find one of those.

Re: Re: Badge Question
 

Sandy, it was lumped into our new member due and then they just ordered everyone the same one. We were never even told that we could have a different badge. :(

Re: Badge Question
 

I think there are a number of chapters that do this (not just AGD, any NPC) so that it's all equal and no one has a fancier badge than the others.

Re: Re: Badge Question
 

I was thinking that it could possibly also be to make it easier on the chapter. With plain badges, you could do one big chapter badge order very early in the semester and with relatively little trouble, because the cost will be figured in and collected ust like dues. The other way is a big pain, and there are sisters who still haven't ordered their badge. (Kappa's can be ordered online.) By just doing the plain, things may be done early enough that they could arrive by initiation or shortly thereafter.

And our chapter lets people choose the badge they want. Mine has pearls- the pearl and sapphire ones are also pretty popular.

my mom was oh SO nice and fun when both me and my sister went through our new member process that she busted out the big bucks for our badges. i have the all pearl badge with the diamond....and then 2 christmases ago i got the chain with my office charms on it and chapter letters. it is sooo pretty and i love it! i was nervous about letting my sis-dot borrow it, but she took excellent care of it until her's came in. :) i wear it any chance i get! my sister's aopi badge is also very, very pretty.

In my chapter everyone has the same badge, however the style of badge that my chapter uses is the nicest version (all crown pearls around the whole badge). We were told that if we really couldn't afford that one we could opt for the cheapest version (three pearls at each point of the triangle). It's so much prettier with all the pearls though. Our crowning glory of jewlery is the all diamond indented triangle necklace charm. one of my sisters got it as a 21st birthday gift, it is beautiful (but costs around 550$!!!):eek:

TC, you can still buy the 3-pearl Quill from Masters of Design. Not many people choose them, though. (In my chapter, the only girl who had one was a legacy - it had been her mom's Quill.) Also, not many people know that you can get any 10k gold Quill in white gold instead.

http://www.mastersofdesign.com/Multi...11&C=129&P=285

In my chapter, most people went "all out" and got the 15-pearl or very basic and got the silver.

I have the 15-pearl and a 20-pearl white gold one I gave an arm and a leg for on eBay.

Fuzzie, I've seen the 3-pearl in the Masters of Design brochure, but I'm not sure how it will look in person. I hope to see one at Convention. I love pearls so much that it would seem as if there were not enough of them.

I did not know about the white gold option. Thank you for telling me. That sounds interesting. I bought 2 Quills, the 15-pearl and the silver. Maybe the white gold with 3 pearls would be nice?

We were able to pick out the pin we wanted. I went all out on my badge (only because my parents helped me out a little for my birthday)! I got the pearl and ruby badge and the pearl chapter guard. Only a couple of girls at my chapter opted to get the pearl and ruby pin.

Tri Delt only has one badge that everyone has to get - the Stars and Crescent badge. If you like, you can buy a gold Trident guard with no pearls, one pearl or three pearls or a chapter guard that's either plain or jeweld. Only the chapter president has a jeweld badge (and you don't get to keep it). Our chapter's president badge has three pearls on the cescent tips with the Deltas between and the chapter guard has emerlds.

I have to say that the three pearl Quill looks really interesting. A few girls in my chapter have it and it's ok. I love my 15 pearl one!

wow you guys have so many options!

we can have the sheild surrounded by pearls if we want but other than that stones at the points are allowed to be worn by only
rubies - chapter advisor
emeralds- nat'l council
diamonds- nat'l pres

Our chapter all has the same badge - a triangle with pearls surrounding it. I was unaware that there was a cheeper option - but i love the one i got and am almost glad i didnt have the cheeper option. i probably would have taken it at the time, but now i am glad i have the all pearl version (our sorority jewel is the pearl). However, one of my pearls fell out. Does anyone know if i could take it to a standard jewler to be fixed or do i send it to ntls???

PearlGirl,
A good jeweler (not the mall jeweler - the jeweler downtown that has been there forever) should be able to fix that, especially if you still have the pearl. I'm sure it would be hella quicker than sending it back to nationals.

Yeah, I think the cheaper option (with one pearl at each apex of the triangle) is pretty rare. It looks kind of sparse and sad. I never would have known at all if I hadn't gotten a hold of the Masters of Design Tri Sigma brochure when it came to the house. There are actually threee choices: the three pearl badge, some other setting of pearl that still has all pearls around it, and the crown pearl badge which has the smallest and greatest amount of pearls. I have to think the crown pearl badge is the standard in most chapters.

we were allowed to choose, too. included in the initiation fee was the plain badge (which are bigger now and i think not as attractive) but if you wanted a jeweled one you could order one instead. i have the plain one but i wear my mom's badge with emeralds and pearls. our past president got one with diamonds on it as a gift. it is about as bling-bling as a KD badge can get!!!

When my class was initiated, the only possible badge was the 22 pearl. Now, they have introduced a badge with fewer pearls, which I've noticed that newer chapters tend to have (to cut down costs); my chapter always uses the 22-pearl, unless a sister specifically asks for an option. I think both are beautiful!

AOII Badge
 

I purchased the gold plated AOII badge because I was given my Great-Grandmother's badge from 1924. It has the pearls all over it and it is smaller then the newer badges. My younger sister ordered the white gold plain badge when she was intiated. It is very pretty too. When my mom is initiated this fall I'm going to give her my badge. Fun times!

Zetas can choose whatever pin they want. When I was initiated in 1961, I chose an opal pin with blue sapphire points and an opal guard. I still wear it proudly.

My son who is a Kappa Sigma has a jeweled pin set with rubies and emeralds (red & green being their colors). My husband who is a Phi Kappa Sigma has a plain pin. Phi Kap has not had jeweled pins for many, many years -- feeling that it is more democratic for everyone to have the same pin.

I was a colony member, so like tcsparky we were all loaned Quills at initiation until ours came in. I ended up getting the plain gold Quill to go with my gold colony pin, even though all my other jewelery is silver. We were allowed to get whichever we wanted -- quite a few girls got the plain silver one, and some got the gold one with 3 pearls. I think that that one's really pretty and different-looking...but for me, I really want the white gold, 15-pearl Quill (my chapter advisor has one and it's gorgeous). This broke college student is going to have to wait a while for that, though...

we were allowed to choose any badge we wanted, anything from plain white or yellow gold to chased golds to twotone etc etc. i chose a two-tone chased badge.... i love it so much

As said before, we're allowed to choose from literally hundreds of different styles. I have seen here on Greek Chat, however, that some chapters will keep the jeweled points to either pearls or one of the blue stones (sapphire, aquamarine, blue topaz).

We have one International Officer who has quite a collection - over a hundred! I would SO love to see a poster made of all of her different pins!!

We were also allowed to choose any badge we wanted, as well as were pinned with our Sister-Mothers badge until ours came in. I have the Fourteen Pearl Badge and love it!

When I ordered my Badge, white gold and silver were not options yet. And for the badges with the gem points, we could only order ruby or amethyst (maroon and lavendar being our colors). I ordered the crown pearl with ruby points, and I still thin it's one of the nicer styles. When I came back, I was suprised to see the white gold and silver options, and also differnet gem points. I liked that everyone in my chapter had very similar badges. Most people ordered either the scroll border or gem points, and it was rare that anyone ordered the badge with pearls and gems alternating. I did notice subtle differences in the enamel on the newer badges though, and while mine is more maroon, the newer ones are very dark, almost black, which I don't like.

SAE only really has one standard badge to begin with... well, excluding the president's badge anyway. Any member who wants to can order jeweled or otherwise more elaborate badges through Burr, Patterson & Auld, but in all my time as an SAE (including two trips to the national leadership school), I have never once seen any undergraduate wearing anything other than the standard badge. I did see our national president wearing a slightly larger version of the standard badge (but smaller than the president's badge, which confuses me as to why he didn't just simply wear that kind, but anyway).... yeah, that's the only exception I can think of.

We had quite a few choices to choose from (7 to be exact). I am hoping mine comes in the next few weeks. I got this one:

http://www.mastersofdesign.com/image...t/img1-403.jpg