“I don’t think guys are nervous about rings that aren’t wedding rings I more feel that some guys are hesitant about wearing jewellery in general because they have a hard time accessorising. “I initially started designing for the guy who just wore a watch,” says Michael Saiger, who founded men’s jewellery brand Miansai a decade ago, and who’s done more than most to normalise the idea that anyone can rock a ring. Sir Walter Raleigh wore a ruby-studded ring that would put Mr T to shame.įortunately, men are finally starting to see sense. It wasn’t until the Victorians, and their priggish efforts to separate the sexes, that men eschewed jewellery. It’s also something Viking warriors, Egyptian kings and Tudor nobles did. Buying something just for the way it looks is pure vanity. A man who’ll lay down his inheritance on a Patek Philippe will still balk at a necklace, or even worse, a ring.
Whereas decorative jewellery gives a fella funny feelings. You could even summon a rescue plane, if you ever find yourself stranded with Breitling’s Emergency on your wrist. You could use one to land a stricken plane. That’s because even though watches are jewellery, they’re not really jewellery. To be the kind of man who knows what ‘escapement’ means, or why Rolexes with faulty dials are more covetable than the pristine ones. You don’t have to be into luxury watches to wear a watch.
