Well... I didn't find it in time.
My Regular ring, despite rolling, sliding, changing to all possible orientations known to man, including turning the ring inside-out (ok, joking on that part)..
... I've gotten no acknowledgement whatsoever from my Nexus 7 & Moto X (all cases removed, etc..).
Other tags seem to work fine.

I don't know if I just need an Alpha, or if there is something wrong with my ring.

I've tried every location and orientation known to man and can't get either the Nexus 7 or the Moto X to recognize the ring's presence.
Both work fine with other NFC tags (up to 20-30mm away)...

I have a normal size ring, black/silver.
I have not been able to get any response whatsoever from either side of the ring on my 2013 Nexus 7 nor my Moto X

I have no trouble getting an immediate response from both devices using generic tags (cardboard disks) I got off of Amazon, even through a leather case.
The sweet spots for the disks seem to match the heat-map in the NFC Control app.

Yes, I have removed the protective cases and tried the ring directly on the back of both devices, and slowly moved it all over the back of the devices in different orientations.

I have no way of knowing whether I just have a faulty ring, or I need an Alpha, or something else is going on.

Any thoughts?

This may be a bit premature since the ring and final Unlock software isn't shipping yet...
but I've been testing some generic NTAG203 NFC tags with the NFCSecure app (which I think was used for the underpinnings of the NFC Ring Unlock app??).

Since this has it's own lock screen in place of the Android lock screen, I'm not sure how to have a specific app notification be interactive without unlocking with NFC first.

Specifically... the Alarm Clock Extreme is a great Android alarm app that can display a Dismiss/Snooze screen even when the phone is locked... but not with the NFCSecure app... you must first unlock the phone with NFC (or PIN) before you can hit 'snooze.'

Any thoughts?