...the only times I've even seen a man wearing alot of jewelry, it
was always on a relatively large man, usually a bit
eccentric-looking (long hair, beard, etc.) and it was always
chunky silver-and-turquoise Native American jewelry: big rings,
cuff bracelets, bolo ties...
Hi again,folks. Well, I wasn’t going to take up any bandwidth with
this thread, but being a relatively large (6’2", 210lbs),
eccentric-looking (waist-length hair, Van Dyke salt & pepper beard
and tattoos down to my knuckles) man, I thought I’d give the world
an idea of what the ill-dressed (I prefer shorts and T-shirt, too),
eccentric-looking man wears as jewelry these days.
On my left hand ring finger, I wear a small, antique cluster ring
with nine Old Mine Cut diamonds. Now, diamonds are certainly not my
favorite gemstone, but the thought of a person, probably somewhere
in Africa, cutting these old stones with a jam peg, likely operated
by “man-power” really appeals to me. On my right hand ring finger, I
wear another Old Mine Cut, approximately 1.15ct in a nugget-style
ring that my father had made, many years ago. Occasionally, I’ll
wear another ring with a sun/moon motif, also set with diamonds. In
my left ear are two piercings, one with a captive bead tiger’s-eye
drop, the other with a tiny silver captive bead skull. My right ear
has three 14k gold hoops, progressive in size.
As a pendant, I wear a triangular piece of Andamooka opal. I
received the rough from my mentor, who passed away last year. It has
a natural black base and a very large harlequin pattern. Please, no
posts about Andamooka opal treatments; an opal with a natural black
base can only be described as an opal with a natural black base! I
wear this pendant always, and occasionally, will wear others with
it. Since they are spiritual in nature, I never wear them exposed,
as they are for my own comfort and not for display. One is a very
long, oval pietersite that resembles a cloud with a thunderstorm,
set in 14k gold bezel. Another is a piece of Tampa Bay coral, black,
resembling a whale’s fluke, wirewrapped in 14k GF. A bear claw in
14k bezel. A badger claw bezel set in .925 with a small opal, also
bezel set with gallery wire (and strung on a leather thong, no
less). A grouse foot in .925. A freeform boulder opal drop in 14k
and, last, but not least, a tie tac (on VERY rare occasions, and
used with a silk tie that has a skull motif) made from a nice piece
of Lightning Ridge material (yeah, it’s black base, too). I haven’t
worn a watch since I retired from the military…if I need to know
the time, I check my cell phone.
Except for the rings, I wear things that have something about them
that I cut, assembled, or fabricated, or things that were handmade
with some artistic or other appealing aspect, much like Mike Kelly
mentioned. The average person has no idea what an Old Mine Cut
diamond even is, much less how they were cut. Nor would they
understand what it means that the 1.15ct OMC has four naturals
(three on the girdle, one on the culet), as far as efficient diamond
cutting goes. I wear each item for its intrinsic value, not for
fashion. I mentioned that most of my pendants are spiritual in
nature. Mine runs mostly toward the Native American aspects. But,
even though I don’t wear Native American design, much of what I DO
wear is totemic in nature, thus I wear them inside my shirt, not
displayed.
So, judging from most of the posts to this thread, most men seem to
wear items that mean something to them, not as fashion statements.
Although, with men’s makeup, TV shows like “Queer Eye for the
Straight Guy” etc., who knows what’s on the horizon? For our
international friends, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a new TV
program here in the USA where 5 gay men give a makeover to a
straight guy. Whoever figures out the first blockbuster item in
men’s jewelry will be the next “Fortune 500” member. Some of the
brown moss agates look very masculine…
James