I have a class ring from University of Cincinnati, purchased in 1972,
made by "John Roberts".  The ring needs repair.  I would like to find
out if "John Roberts" still exists, or if not, who took over their
business, so that I can try and get the ring repaired.

Dear waynep,

It was an amazing quest, but I am sure that I finally found out what
became of John Roberts.

Based on what the Researcher journalist-ga said about the location of
the company, I did some extensive research, using quite a number of
detours with encountering some dead ends. Current business directories
do not list "John Roberts Manufacturing Co." anymore, but when I did a
Google search utilizing the following search terms:

"class ring manufacturing" oklahoma:
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22class+ring+manufacturing%22+oklahoma&meta=

I found out that there still is a class ring manufacturer in Norman,
Oklahoma, as listed on this site of the business directory GY.com:

Jewelry Stores Oklahoma 405 Area Code Business Listing
http://www.gy.com/biz/448310/405.htm

It's "Balfour L.G. College Class Rings", and som additional research
for this company revealed that they seem to be the leading
manufacturer of class rings in the USA today. The company is resident
in Braintree, MA, but they have several production plants all over the
land. I asked myself, what are the odds that a community like Norman,
OK, has by mere coincidence two companies specialized in exactly this
kind of product? Is it possible that Balfour took over John Roberts at
some time in the past? This brought me to searching for the following
on Google:

balfour "john roberts":
://www.google.de/search?q=balfour+%22john+roberts%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=

The very first result of thi search was a page with manufacturer
identification helps for class ring owners:

Milestone Traditions - Company Trademarks
http://www.milestonetraditions.com/trade.htm

The identification "JR or RJ = John Roberts = Artcarved =
Commemorative Brands" shows that the company John Roberts was renamed
to or taken over by Artcarved and then Commemorative Brands.
Further searching on the Milestone Tradition site revealed the address
of Artcarved, which is obviously identical with Balfour:

ArtCarved/Balfour
P.O. Box 170956
Austin, TX 78745
1-800-531-5131

See: http://www.milestonetraditions.com/faq.htm#manufacturer

Searching for "Commemorative Brands" led to a similar result. The
company's website shows the brands of Balfour and Artcarved - so they
are all one single enterprise!

Welcome to Commemorative Brands, Inc.
http://www.cbi-rings.com/public/default.htm

So if you would like to get your class ring repaired, you should
inquire at the successor company of the original manufacturer. In
Norman, where John Roberts Mfg. Co. was located, their address is:

Balfour LG College Class Rings
319 W Boyd St
Norman, OK 73069
Phone: 405-321-6539
Fax: 405-364-3841

If they can't help you, you should try:

Commemorative Brands/Balfour Inc.
7211 Circle S. Road
Austin, TX 78745
Phone: (512) 416-3840

Hope this helps!
Regards,
Scriptor

Excellent documentation of how the researcher got the answer to my
question.  I am 100% satisfied with the results I got for the price I
paid

John Roberts was based in Norman, Oklahoma, but I could find no
history on the business or its closing.  Good luck.

Ring repair can be done by many jewelers. By working with a local
jewelry store's resident craftsman, I have had very good results in
restoring and re-sizing an antique ring. Going to the original
manufacturer of your ring may not be necessary.

Good work, Scriptor!  It certainly was a quest!