Have you ever seen a man wearing a heart chain? We’ve all seen men with gold bracelets, gold chains and fancy, over-the-top rings, even if it’s only in a gangster movie or a soap opera. But have you seen a man wearing a heart chain while you’ve been out in the Mall or in the local restaurant? Or what about other types of decoration such as a heart bracelet, a heart pendant necklace or a heart brooch? Doesn’t seem quite right – does it?
With the advent of the Baby Boomer generation, jewellery for men has evolved at a high-speed rate, with many exotic innovations now commonly accepted even though they at first appeared eccentric – but there remain some “beyond the limit” items and a heart chain is just one instance. For example, click on the picture below to find details of a product with a description that begins “The heart and key are timeless symbols of the singular love between two people.” – this implies a unisex appeal for the product, but do you know any men who would wear it?
Times have changed rapidly since the 1960s and the hippie/free love generation. Until that time, twentieth century jewellery for men in western societies was generally confined to watches, cuff links and tie pins. Understatement, refinement and quality was the goal.
And any suggestion that it was appropriate and fashionable for men to wear earrings, to display gold medallions around their necks or to have piercings in their eyes, nose, tongue (or whatever else has now come to be commonplace) would have been regarded as fitting only for savages.
Such decorations were for women only. Western societies believed that men’s jewellery should focus on functionality, leaving colour and beauty to the arena of the female of the species.
Yet in the four decades since then we have seen a cultural transformation. So in 2009, for example, we have completely accepted the “metrosexuals,” men who take such great pride in their looks and clothing that it is vitally important for them to be not just presentable but fashionable as well.
They believe that masculine jewelry such a silver earring makes them good to look at without being “girly” or effeminate. In fact, there is a huge selection of fashion jewelry for men. They boldly wear necklaces, bracelets and earrings to complement their hair or eyes because this “accessorizing” enhances their looks. Rings, necklaces, bracelets and cuff links all emphasize their confidence, achievements and status.
Even the more conventional male members of society have been caught up in the enthusiasm of new ideas. Large gold rings or medallions, fancy cuff links and even bracelets can be found at all levels of society. What was once a caricature from a Hollywood film or a TV series and accepted as show business exaggeration (for example, Shaft, Starsky and Hutch or Miami Vice in the USA; Minder or Only Fools and Horse in the UK) is now commonplace in Denver or Dallas or London or Liverpool.
But there are some limits that remain to this day. Gold and silver medallions would be regarded with any sort of disdain by very few people these days and especially the young. But even in the age of equality of the sexes and equal rights for people of any color, religion or sexual persuasion, I suggest that a man walking down Main Street USA or High Street UK would be considered more than a little eccentric if he sported, for example, a gold, silver or diamond heart chain. Some heart jewelry is acceptable for men and some just isn’t! When you give it much thought though (or at least, when I do!), it does seem as if a man wearing a heart trinket (for example, a heart brooch, a heart locket, heart charms or a heart bracelet) is not exactly, how should we say, “mainstream”.
Am I living in an insulated part of the world or do you agree?