New Badge; Alumni Sister; Need Help

[AOII Angel]

I agree with the consensus that LCAguy is a very thoughtful fiancé. I hope she appreciates your very sweet gift.

[als463]

Originally Posted by LCAGuy

Hello Ladies,

This is the fiance of a Phi Mu Alumni. I am an alum of LXA.

Short Backstory: She can't find her badge or our lavaliers. We moved recently and they are simply gone.

Christmas time is here and I have bought her a new pearl/ruby badge because at the end of the day, I'm awesome. It need to be engraved. I know her chapter, I can get her initiation date but one thing remains: her initials.

Since I'm the one having this engraved and we are set to be married, I thought maybe to have her "new" initials engraved rather than her initials at her time of initiation.

Should I have her old initials on there or her soon to be "new" initials engraved?

First, I want to say how incredible of a finace you are. This shows you put a lot of thought into her gift. Also, I love that you got her rubies and pearls and didn't go for the cheapest one you could find. I'm not sure if she had rubies and pearls before but, who doesn't love a blinged-out badge?

Second, I don't know of one Phi Mu Alumna (not alumni--plural is alumnae) who has her married initials on her badge. Even if she goes from Mary Laura Smith to Mary Laura Kline, at conventions they would refer to her as Mary (Smith) Kline and by her chapter of initiation. This way, people can say, "Oh, Mary Smith got married. She is now Mary Kline." Definitely stick with her initiated initials.

Third, I have to ask (if you feel comfortable answering) where she initiated--the chapter? I love hearing about fiances who realize how important a sorority can be to a young woman. I agree with what everyone else has said---You are pretty great! Good luck!

[LCAGuy]

I see the consensus is Maiden Name. Done and done. Things Remembered in the mall does a pretty good job with this kind of thing.

Her original badge was not jeweled at all, in fact, I believe it was a gold gloss (instead of solid 10k). Unfortunately, a plain Jane 10k badge runs $156. I wasn't going to pay that large sum for a plain replacement (hence the above and beyond). My badge for LXA as a plain one is $10.

Her chapter is Delta Iota, Baldwin Wallace University.

Thank you all for the replies. It really helps. Obviously getting something engraved for me is easy since I always keep my name :-)

[LCAGuy]

Sisters of Phi Mu,

Before I have the engraving removed and the new one completed, I am looking for some information on the previous owner.

Not personal information, but maybe just some information about the chapter it came from. Maybe some of you ladies are stewards of the past and know something about your history that may help.

The original engraving is as follows:
Eta Beta
T.A.I.
1-19-1958

Does anyone know anything about this chapter? To be fair, I believe that it is supposed to come from Washington. However, it would appear that the chapter doesn't exist any longer.

I also wanted this on the boards so that there is a record that a wonderful woman with the initials T.A.I. had previously owned this badge.

Any info would be helpful since I think it is important to pay homage to our past and recognize those who came before us .

[etadrisophila]

Pardon the crash because I am not a Phi Mu sister:

If I were to acquire a vintage badge, I would want to retain the original engraving on it, even if it meant that my own information would not fit on the badge (in addition to the existing information).

How do others feel?

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by etadrisophila

Pardon the crash because I am not a Phi Mu sister:

If I were to acquire a vintage badge, I would want to retain the original engraving on it, even if it meant that my own information would not fit on the badge (in addition to the existing information).

How do others feel?

Yeah, that is such a tricky subject. I know that a lot of people feel that the original information should stay on vintage badges. I had one of my vintage badges engraved with my info because somehow it escaped the original jewelers with no engraving. The rest have the original information intact so I can remember the age and history of my special badges.

LCA Guy, I'll wait for some of the Phi Mus to chime in, but I'd probably wait and let your fiancé decide if she wants to remove the old engraving. I know you've put so much thought and love into this gift, but it may be upsetting to erase history in this way.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

As as Phi Mu, I personally wouldn't remove the name of my sister from her badge. But that is me. I would be honored to wear it and continue her legacy.

[AZTheta]

*crash* Personally, I would not remove engraving from a vintage badge. I have an early 1900s Dyer that I adore, and have researched as much as I can about the woman who wore it. And I own another badge which belonged to a woman who had a very interesting life (putting it politely). Amazing what's on the Internet!

Agree with AOIIAngel that I would leave it up to your fiancé as to the engraving.

About badge pricing: You could probably get a plain goldfilled badge for around $30.00 (I'm guessing/approximating). The price you quoted for a plain, non-jeweled 10K badge sounds about right. A standard plain 10K Theta badge is $165.00.

[als463]

Originally Posted by LCAGuy

Sisters of Phi Mu,

Before I have the engraving removed and the new one completed, I am looking for some information on the previous owner.

Not personal information, but maybe just some information about the chapter it came from. Maybe some of you ladies are stewards of the past and know something about your history that may help.

The original engraving is as follows:
Eta Beta
T.A.I.
1-19-1958

Does anyone know anything about this chapter? To be fair, I believe that it is supposed to come from Washington. However, it would appear that the chapter doesn't exist any longer.

I also wanted this on the boards so that there is a record that a wonderful woman with the initials T.A.I. had previously owned this badge.

Any info would be helpful since I think it is important to pay homage to our past and recognize those who came before us .

As others have said, I would also keep the letters of the other sister on it. That's just me. For the record, the Eta Beta chapter of Phi Mu was our University of Washington chapter which was installed May 3, 1917. The chapter closed in April 1996. Something VERY INTERESTING about this chapter is that we are preparing to re-colonize it (in Fall 2013, I think). It's an interesting little piece of history and I think it would be great to keep this badge with the same initials on it. Good luck!

[LCAGuy]

Update:

I gave her the badge for Christmas and she cried. It was probably the best present of the year.

Engraving was removed and her information was put on it :-)

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by als463

For the record, the Eta Beta chapter of Phi Mu was our University of Washington chapter which was installed May 3, 1917. The chapter closed in April 1996. Something VERY INTERESTING about this chapter is that we are preparing to re-colonize it (in Fall 2013, I think).

AOII is recolonizing Spring 2013 and Phi Mu is slated to recolonize sometime between 2014-2016.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by LCAGuy

Update:

I gave her the badge for Christmas and she cried. It was probably the best present of the year.

Engraving was removed and her information was put on it :-)

AWWWWW, mass good fiance points coming to you. As a female I say this gets you out of at least one which flowers/cake/invitations discussion.