Herff Jones

What Herff Jones does

Herff Jones, Inc., founded in 1920 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a leading US provider of customized graduation and educational products sold primarily through schools as institutional buyers. Its core offerings span custom class rings and jewelry, caps and gowns (both ClassRental and ClassKeeper), graduation announcements and accessories, diploma frames (via the Framing Success division), achievement/letterman jackets, yearbooks and custom photo products, medical pins, and Greek-letter jewelry for sororities and fraternities. Each product is personalized with the purchasing school's seal, crest, colors, and mascot, supported by a customization library covering thousands of US institutions and a Full Lifetime Warranty on class rings covering repair, resizing, stone replacement, and finish restoration.

The company operates a sales-led go-to-market in which over 2,000 employees and sales partners visit schools multiple times per senior year to take orders, capture measurements, and deliver products, supplemented by dedicated direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefronts for high school, college, Greek, cheer, and framing customers. Revenue is generated through one-time purchases tied to graduation milestones, with secondary lifetime value economics from the college-ring trade-in program (gold reclamation at market prices) and warranty-driven retention. Herff Jones also operates the One Frame, One Tree sustainability initiative in partnership with Trees for the Future, having planted over one million trees through diploma frame sales.

Herff Jones is a division of Varsity Brands and competes principally with Jostens and Balfour in the North American-dominant College Convocation Dress sector, projected at $1.3B in 2025 growing to $2.8B by 2032 at 8.6% CAGR. Customer segments span high school and college students, families, Greek organizations, healthcare education programs, and the schools and school districts that select Herff Jones as their official supplier, making it a mass-market B2B2C platform rather than an enterprise-software business.

Name

Herff Jones

Legal name

Herff Jones, Inc.

Website

https://herffjones.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1920

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Herff Jones, founded in 1920 and headquartered in Indianapolis, is a leading US provider of custom class rings, caps and gowns, diploma frames, and graduation products, selling through school-based representatives and direct-to-consumer e-commerce to high schools, colleges, Greek organizations, and families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Graduation Products & Academic Regalia

NAICS

Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing (33991), Jewelry, Luggage, and Leather Goods Retailers (4583)

SIC

Costume Jewelry & Novelties (3960), Apparel & Other Finishd Prods Of Fabrics & Similar Matl (2300)

akta.pro primary industry

School Uniforms (Children) (CRAAAHAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Team & School Athletic Uniforms Retail (CRAMACAJ), Uniforms & Workwear Specialty Department Stores (CRAGAGAH)

Keywords

• Class rings manufacturing
• Graduation products
• Academic regalia
• Custom school apparel
• Greek organization jewelry

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Class Rings and Jewelry: Custom class rings designed for high school and college students with school-specific customization. Includes high school jewelry, college rings, Greek jewelry for sororities and fraternities, and cheer jewelry. One-time purchase model.
2. Graduation Regalia and Apparel: Caps and gowns, announcements, thank you notes, class apparel. Products include Custom Rental gowns and Custom Keeper gowns for commencement ceremonies. One-time purchases tied to graduation events.
3. Diploma Frames: Diploma frames sold through Framing Success division. Each frame purchase plants a tree through Trees for the Future partnership.
4. Achievement Jackets: Custom letterman jackets featuring school colors, letters, mascots, and achievement patches. Made from Melton Wool with customizable options.
5. Yearbooks and Photo Products: Yearbook publishing services and custom photo products for capturing school memories.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Herff Jones manufactures and sells customized graduation and educational products, including class rings, caps and gowns, graduation announcements, diploma frames, achievement jackets, and Greek organization jewelry. Products are customized with each school's official seal, crest, colors, and mascot, and sold through a nationwide network of in-school sales representatives and dedicated e-commerce sites targeting high school and college students and their families.

Product overview

Herff Jones is a leading provider of graduation and educational products and services operating as a division of Varsity Brands. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of graduation essentials including custom class rings and jewelry (with sub-brands for high school, college, and Greek markets), caps and gowns (ClassRental and ClassKeeper custom options), graduation announcements and accessories, diploma frames through Framing Success, achievement jackets/letterman jackets, medical pins, custom photo products, and digital tools like HJ SmartShare and StageClip. Products are sold through school-specific e-commerce sites and feature extensive personalization options reflecting individual school traditions, colors, and mascots. The company has operated for over 99 years with a network of over 2,000 employees and sales partners across the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Framing Success: Diploma frames division of Herff Jones with sustainability partnership planting trees for each frame sold.
• HJ Greek
• Champ Rings
• Celestial Collection

Products and services

• Class Rings and Jewelry Custom-made class rings and jewelry for high school and college students, featuring hundreds of designs and personalization options including the Celestial Collection and Champ Rings lines.
• Caps & Gowns Graduation caps and gowns available as custom rental (ClassRental) and custom keeper (ClassKeeper) options, designed with school-specific colors, crests, and insignias for high school and college commencement ceremonies.
• Graduation Announcements & Accessories Custom graduation announcements featuring school seals, crests, and official graduation ceremony information, along with thank you notes and namecards.
• Diploma Frames Diploma frames sold through the Framing Success division, with each purchase planting one tree through the Trees for the Future partnership.
• Achievement Jackets (Letterman Jackets) Custom letterman jackets made with heavyweight Melton Wool (80% wool/20% nylon), featuring heavy-duty snaps, over 300 patch designs, and available in official school colors with school letters and mascots.
• College Rings (Shop) Dedicated e-commerce site (collegerings.herffjones.com) for college ring products, allowing students to search for their college and customize rings reflecting school traditions.
• Greek Jewelry (HJ Greek) Official provider of sorority and fraternity jewelry including pins, badges, chapter guards, and Greek accessory jewelry sold through hjgreek.com.
• Cheer Jewelry (Team Jewelry) Cheerleading jewelry and accessories sold through teamjewelry.com.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 million trees planted through Trees for the Future partnership
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Trees for the FuturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHerff Jones and Framing Success partner with Trees for the Future to plant one tree for every diploma frame sold. Trees for the Future is a nonprofit organization that has planted over 187 million trees worldwide since 1989. The partnership supports environmental sustainability while allowing customers to feel pride in giving back. Trees benefit local communities with food, fuel, and building materials.
• Framing SuccesscoreTechnology or IntegrationFraming Success is a division of Herff Jones that specializes in diploma frames. It has been a long-time sponsor of Trees for the Future and manages the One Frame, One Tree program. Framing Success operates as a separate brand under the Herff Jones umbrella.
• Schools and School DistrictscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHerff Jones partners with schools as the 'official supplier' of graduation products. Schools select Herff Jones to provide class rings, caps and gowns, announcements, and other products customized with school identity. This creates exclusive relationships where Herff Jones becomes the designated provider for each institution.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• James Avery Artisan Jewelry: James Avery is a vertically integrated jewelry retailer/manufacturer with strong personalization and charm offerings, comparable to Herff Jones' core capability of producing customized, designable jewelry products.
• Signet Jewelers: Signet Jewelers operates retail banners (Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared) that sell fine and personalized jewelry, including items frequently purchased as graduation gifts. Broader jewelry retail overlap with Herff Jones' gift-jewelry positioning.
• Pandora: Pandora is a global branded jewelry retailer with charm and personalized jewelry offerings that overlap with the gift/keepsake jewelry positioning of Herff Jones' college and high school jewelry lines.
• Kendra Scott: Kendra Scott is a jewelry and personalized accessories brand whose color-customizable design language and college-campus marketing overlap with Herff Jones' younger demographic and personalization-led positioning.

Direct peers

• Jostens: Jostens is the largest direct competitor to Herff Jones, offering class rings, graduation caps and gowns, yearbooks, and personalized graduation products through exclusive school partnerships in the U.S. and Canada. Both companies compete head-to-head for 'official supplier' contracts with high schools and colleges.
• Balfour: Balfour is a long-standing direct competitor in class rings and graduation products, including yearbooks and school memorabilia. It competes with Herff Jones for exclusive multi-year school contracts and serves a similar student/family customer base.
• ArtCarved: ArtCarved is a heritage class ring and graduation jewelry brand now operating under Herff Jones, offering direct competition in the same custom class ring category prior to integration. Comparable as a direct peer in class ring design and school distribution.
• CLC/Gateway (now Jostens): Historically an apparel-focused graduation regalia competitor to Herff Jones, now merged into Jostens. The original CLC/Gateway line competed with Herff Jones' caps and gowns and class apparel categories.

Emerging players

• Etsy: Etsy is an online marketplace where independent artisans sell personalized and custom jewelry/keepsakes, providing a digital-native alternative that competes for graduation gift and self-purchase jewelry dollars.
• Graduation Source: Graduation Source is a smaller online-focused retailer of caps, gowns, and graduation accessories that competes with Herff Jones' caps and gowns and graduation accessories lines, particularly on price-sensitive online orders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hjcollege
• YouTubeyoutube.com/HerffJonesHighSchool
• Facebookfacebook.com/herffjones
• Instagraminstagram.com/herffjones
• TikToktiktok.com/@herff_jones
• Pinterestpinterest.com/herffjonesHS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/herff-jones

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Herff Jones