There are some strange stereotypes about men wearing jewellery and when we stop to think what is actually available in the shops, it is clear that these stereotypes make no sense.
Men certainly can wear jewellery and if you are not already you should seriously look into starting.
Men’s jewellery covers a wide range of items, styles and types. They will always be something suitable for every man.
Men Have Wore Jewellery Throughout History
Men and jewellery is nothing new. Men have worn various types of jewellery throughout history and it seems that it is only recently that we have we have this strange idea that it is unmanly to wear it.
Like most things the style of what is worn has certainly changed over time, but the fundamentals have always stayed the same. Jewellery on men adds character and compliments the outfit.
Wearing Jewellery Is A Personal Choice
Like anything, wearing jewellery is a very personal choice and you should wear what you are comfortable with. There are no rules about what you can and cannot do. However, there are some simple guidelines you should follow which I will go over below.
Keep It Simple
Men’s jewellery is best worn when it is subtle. It should blend in and add to the outfit, not overwhelm anyone looking at you.
If this does happen it can be either because you are wearing too much of one thing, in which case the jewellery can over whelm you. Think about when you see someone wearing 3 or 4 chains, or a ring on every finger. This immediately draws your eye and this it is all you notice about them.
It can also mean you are wearing too many items all together. Imagine wearing a watch, a bracelet, rings, a necklace, earrings, and cufflinks. It can all be a bit too much. Just because you can have jewellery in a certain area doesn’t mean you need to have it there. Sometimes less can be more. Keeping it simple is going to work better than looking like you fell into a jewellery box.
You should also keep it simple with the style. Most men’s jewellery is not over the top, but you can always find some crazy blinged out piece or something with too many colours. While this can often be totally fine and work really well, you do run the risk of having it take away from your over all look.
Get The Size Right Jewellery
So maybe you have got the amount of jewellery right, now you need to make sure the size is right. The same principle applies here. You want it to work with your outfit, not distract from it. A classic mistake is wearing a watch that is too big. Larger watches are very much in fashion, but personally would rather wear something smaller. I find it just works better overall.
The same can be said for any piece of jewellery. A common one you will see if chains that are too thick. They just draw your attention straight there and make your neck look strange.
Match Your Colours
Over all you want your jewellery to match in colour. You don’t want to have a silver ring, gold chain and rose gold watch all on at the same time.
It is little subtle things like that this that can make or break an outfit. You should be doing this all over, such as the colour of your shoes should match your belt and even your watch strap (if you are using a leather one). This is simple coordination and you should be doing the same with your jewellery.
Lots of jewellery can have little colour accents so you should look at them carefully to see if they will go with your look.
Match To Your Complexion
This can be a tricky one to get right at first, but I think once you try a few different colours out, you will quickly know what works or not for you.
Personally I can’t wear anything gold. It just doesn’t look right on me. It just looks very strange on my complexion.
I try and stick to silver coloured items and that seems to work just fine.
This may be partially personal taste, but I do think you need to look at your own complexion and how certain colours work with it, or often, do not.
Match To Your Style
I think this is another area that can be difficult to master at first, but once you work out who you are and what your style is, you can very easily match your jewellery to your style.
If you are someone who is quite traditional and who likes simple plane colours and patterns, with a basic haircut, you are probably not going to be wearing earrings, it would just look a bit out of place.
However, if you look at most footballers these days, they are covered in tattoos and wearing diamond earrings and have very crazy hairstyles. This type of jewellery suits their style. It doesn’t look out of place.
Match It To Your Event
This is probably one of the most important things to take notice of. Wearing certain jewellery may only work at certain times.
Just think about what you are doing and what makes sense for this. You wouldn’t go to a funeral with an iced out massive necklace along with your with your black suit and tie. It wouldn’t make sense.
The same would be if you are on the beach, you wouldn’t be wearing cufflinks and a tie pin; you probably wouldn’t be wearing a shirt for a start.
Basically if your jewellery is complementing your outfit, you should be fine, as I am going to assume you know how to dress correctly for the right occasion.
There Are Always Exceptions
There is always going to be exceptions to everything I’ve just said. Like I said, there are no rules, these are only loose guidelines.
If you wear everything silver, but your wedding ring is gold, well so be it.
Maybe your style suits wearing 7 rings and having both ears pierced. If you suit this and it seems to work, go for it.
The beauty of life is that we are all different so what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. Just do what works for you, but be honest with yourself and even ask friends and family if they think you look good or not. It can be a fine line between having jewellery looking good and working with your look and being just awful.
Conclusion
Men can easily wear jewellery and if you are not already, you should be looking at ways to incorporate it into your life.
Just keep it simple and stick to the guidelines and you should be able to pull any piece of jewellery off that you want.
Even if you only wear a watch, that’s still good and its always going to help you look and feel better as you go about your day.
(You can read more about – Why You Should Avoid Fashion Watches)
Ian is the main writer at Horology Dream and is a lover all things watch related.
He has been a watch collector for over a decade and brings his knowledge and experience to this site to help you on your own watch collecting journey.
You can connect with him on Social media and talk anything watches or read more about him on his Author Page.
