It’s Global Close Your Rings Day — Celebrate with a Free Pin from an Apple Store Near You
Toggle Dark Mode
Today marks a 10th anniversary for the Apple Watch, and Apple is celebrating by not only offering one of its limited-time activity challenges but also giving away physical pins that match the digital award.
While Apple’s first wearable was officially announced at an Apple event on September 9, 2014, it didn’t go on sale until the following spring, on April 24, 2015. Despite predictions of a special anniversary edition “Apple Watch X,” and an uncanny choice to hold its first-ever Monday fall event on September 9, 2024, the occasion came and went without any special commemoration.
Instead of a special edition Apple Watch, the company has chosen to go with a lower-key celebration and make it all about the wearable’s iconic Activity Rings.
The first evidence of this appeared in the iOS 18.2 betas in November, but it wasn’t until earlier this month, when Apple announced Global Close Your Rings Day, that we knew precisely what form it would take.
Limited-edition activity challenges are nothing new for Apple. It’s held challenges to ring in each New Year, celebrate Earth Day, Veterans Day, Heart Month, International Women’s Day, Black Unity, National Parks, World Environment Day, and more.
By itself, a “Global Close Your Rings Day” challenge isn’t anything particularly new. However, what makes this one unique is that, for the first time ever, you can pick up a physical pin to commemorate the challenge.
The pins are being distributed worldwide at most Apple Store locations “while supplies last” — and you don’t need to close your rings to get a pin. You simply need to walk into your local store and ask for one.
To celebrate Global Close Your Rings Day, customers can obtain a special pin inspired by the award. Customers can pick up a pin at Apple Store locations worldwide starting April 24, while supplies last.
Apple
While Apple didn’t show off the pin in its initial press release, it’s essentially just a physical manifestation of the digital reward. It measures about 1.25” x 1” and has a single perpendicular pin with a standard butterfly clutch, similar to a lapel pin.
Each Apple Store appears to be distributing the pins differently. We’ve seen some online reports of stores actively promoting the pins by having an employee standing near the front of the store or even outside, handing out pins to passersby. However, my experience was a bit different.
When I walked into my local Apple Store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall about a half-hour after it opened this morning, there was no sign that today was special, much less anyone visibly handing out pins. After browsing for a few minutes, I finally asked one of the staff if they had any, and she immediately perked up and went to a nearby drawer to fetch one for me. She also expressed surprise, asking how I knew about them in the first place.
Again, you don’t need to prove that you closed your rings. In fact, I didn’t even need to prove that I had an Apple Watch or any other Apple device. Hence, there’s no need to have closed your rings to get the physical pin. Stores are also handing out one per customer by default, but they may be willing to give you an extra one for a friend or family member if you ask nicely — the employee I spoke with was hesitant at first when I asked if I could have an extra one, but was happy to oblige when I told her the other one is for my daughter (which it is — she’s far more of a pin collector than I am).
If this is how your local Apple Store is distributing the pins, the “while supplies last” qualifier could be for quite a while since it seems that pins will only be given to those who know enough to ask for them. Nevertheless, it’s possible that even those stores could begin handing them out more actively later today, so it’s best not to waste any time if you want to get your hands on one. Sadly, you’re probably out of luck if you don’t live near an Apple Store, as Apple isn’t offering any way to order them online.
