Men Ok To Bling

There has always been a fine line for wearing fashionable jewelry between successfully accessorising and out-blinging the chandeliers. This rings true especially for men. While David Beckham may be a catalyst for diamonds sales, his love for men's jewelry hasn't before inspired the average man to have his ears pierced and adorned with de Beers diamonds.

But jewelry for men is back on the fashion menu and this month's menswear season produced brooches, necklaces and bracelets as embellishment for suits and sportswear, suggesting that jewelry is creeping back into the average male's wardrobe.

For most guys, diamonds (except maybe on watches or as evening studs) are not fashionable, nor masculine. But, as Susie Menkes told The International Herald Tribune, when Giorgio Armani puts a bold flower pin on the lapel of a suit or Miuccia Prada teams a bead necklace with a collar and tie, you have to accept that male jewels are taking off. Prada also pinned a sailing boat brooch on a jacket and added more of the "tricks" or decorative gadgets that she launched last season. They have become a big hit dangling from belts and bags. The general tendency is for a tribal vibe, suggesting all the ethnic, male nobility that goes with sharks' teeth, carved horn, shells and beadwork. But there is nothing ethnic about the clothes they partner, for those chunky necklaces tend to be worn with a leather jacket, polo shirt and jeans, rather than with Beckham's signature metrosexual sarong.

Fine jewelry is a more delicate choice. Gucci more or less invented the image of "medallion man" in the 1970s - Gucci brogues, slacks, open shirt and gold glittering in the chest hair. The snazzy house is now a jewelry purveyor, and in the Milan show (and in an Italian Bella Figura tradition) gilded necklaces hit the cleavage or bumped against a bared torso, while wrists clunked with gold bracelets. Dior Homme's style is subtle, mostly in silver and finely sculpted to create a sophisticated statement.