are you man enough
A big, luminous cabochon emerald on a blackened Pandora Christmas 2015 gold ring by Solange Azagury Partridge, a green lacquered amulet pendant with a hexagonal emerald at its heart by Hannah Martin, a white gold serpent bracelet fully pavd with diamonds from Shaun Leane they sound like jewels that any woman would lust after, but they have all been designed with men in mind.
Masculine jewellery has come a long way, both from the leather thong necklaces and hippy bead bracelets that young guys adopt on their gap year travels and hang on to for far too long afterwards, and the watch and cufflinks combo that until recently was the jewellery limit for many men.
Jeweller to the rockocracy Stephen Webster was one of the first to design a specific men's collection in 1997; after struggling at first it attracted a wealthy male clientele authentic pandora jewelry bracelets christmas clearance including Johnny Depp and Jay Z, as did Theo Fennell with his one off commissions for big names such as Sir Elton John. Webster's men's jewellery is enjoying double digit growth and he has just launched an innovative bracelet collection.
Azagury Partridge, who has a starry clientele for her imaginative, slightly risqu and tongue in cheek pieces, recently launched her first men's high jewellery collection, Alpha.
Martin, who was unusual in starting her decade old business as a men's brand, is the only jewellery designer showcased in Selfridges' new area for cool, contemporary menswear. Other designers with a bold, assertive style, such as Leane, Tomasz Donocik and Mads Kornerup at Shamballa Jewels, are finding their designs for men becoming increasingly important.
If you expect these designs to be variants on the chunky silver rings and pendants so beloved of the rock brotherhood, think again. Most brands include such a range as point of entry and the challenge is to make it unique Martin's Delirium is based on modern yet Art Deco inflected geometry founded in occult inspired shapes; Webster's involves highly crafted gothic motifs and antique Pandora Christmas 2015 looking blackened metal, while Leane's range includes sabre tips, talons and oxidised silver.
But not only do these and other collections go much further towards the realms of high jewellery, the clientele is also much wider than you might expect.
"It's hard to pin down," says Azagury Partridge. "Yes, we have rock stars, but many clients are collectors they buy jewellery in the same pandora 14k gold charms christmas sale way they do art.
According to Martin, her fine jewellery clients "range from their 20s to their 60s, gay and straight, from musicians to accountants we've even done dinners for wealth management firms whose clients collect." She has also witnessed a rise in commissions for commitment and wedding rings and "for engagement rings with a subtle stone to team with a wedding ring".
During the past decade, notes Martin, "men have become unafraid of stones, especially dark emeralds, sapphires and black diamonds, in blackened metal. Poetic types will even go for a single pearl earring, and onyx and diamond earrings sell well to both sexes."
The trend for single earrings for women has further blurred divisions, as London's Dover Street Market, a leading retailer of men's edgy fine jewellery, has found. Leane says that white diamonds are taking off, particularly for bespoke orders, rising at 50 per cent a year.
"Celebrity culture, such as David Beckham wearing diamond earstuds, has made it OK men can wear jewellery and still look masculine," he says. "They are now so aware of fashion and luxury goods that they take a natural interest in fine jewellery."
Webster pioneered diamonds for men, but his latest collection, England Made Me, has moved on to "something quite unique," he says. "It's a bracelet with a highly crafted gold clasp but links in ceramic one of the toughest materials that you can change to vary the colour. Women like men in bracelets," he adds. "They make them seem less uptight than they might appear in the working week."
Diamond charmed, tough leather bracelets are one of Donocik's fortes. "I've always done men's jewellery because I couldn't find enough that I would wear and it's a chance to do bolder designs cufflinks that are different, or big signet rings," he says. "The change has come in the past two years even City guys wear discreet black diamonds on their wedding bands. Men who wore bracelets at festivals are now in their 30s and can buy the real thing."
The word all the designers use about their men's jewellery is "elegant". "It's for a classic and sartorially elegant man who wants to show part of his persona and edge through his jewellery," says Leane.
Kornerup started designing his gem set, corded bracelets because he could not find fine jewellery that was masculine yet refined. "I wanted to revive men's jewellery in the form of well designed, well crafted bracelets that would complement a good watch, and started with black diamonds," he explains.
"I wore no jewellery for years and then bought a Shaun Leane necklace," says Adam Reed, co founder of hip hair stylist Percy Reed. "Shaun is an absolute master his pieces look masculine, and I like that."
Jewellery, it seems, is now firmly a part of the carefully considered male wardrobe, not just for festival boys.
Arnaud Bamberger, chairman, Cartier UK
"For me, fine jewellery for men should be confined to dress studs and cufflinks, for black tie wear. But the market is now more open; both men and women wear subtle bracelets such as our Clou style. The most obvious jewellery for men is a watch, with which small pieces such as a bracelet or Trinity ring look stylish. Apart from my very narrow wedding ring and a watch, I wear two Clou bracelets, which are my trademark. And cufflinks every day they finish the look of a smart man."