I like jewelry on men. I think guys look good with a necklace or a bracelet. However my girlfriends don’t agree and think that bling on any man looks awful.
So a guy I’ve been seeing recently has a birthday coming up. He’s in his early 50’s but is in great shape looks much younger. So what do my fellow dopers say, is there any jewelry that looks good or has its time passed?
I think you should trust women’s taste…
A nice watch, or cuff links if he has occasion to wear them. Those are the only things I can think of that would pass the majority of the anti-bling crowd’s muster (well, a wedding band, too, but that’s a little much for a birthday gift!).
If he doesn’t wear jewelry now, then he almost certainly doesn’t like wearing jewelry. I’ve had girlfriends buy me jewelry (rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings) and I always feel badly when I have to explain to them that I can’t wear jewelry - it makes me super uncomfortable.
I agree. The guy’s in his fifties - if he wanted to wear jewelry, he would already be wearing it. If a girlfriend bought me an item of jewelry, I might feel compelled to wear it but I wouldn’t like doing it. So it’s a poor gift.
Men’s jewelry can be great, as long as by “men’s jewelry” you mean watches, cufflinks and tie clips.
As Isamu says, I think a man who would enjoy wearing other kinds of jewelry likely already is. Perhaps you could probe him indirectly about how he feels about men’s jewelry. He’s unlikely to pick up that you’re probing him for a birthday gift: he’s a man.
When deciding whether or not to get him jewelry, surely his opinion about men’s jewelry matters more than ours, yours and your friends’, right?
Right?
Unless he’s a hippie-ish type guy, then he could pull off a necklace but otherwise, yeah, a watch or cufflinks or a tie pin.
Very true, and he’s that kind of man.
Deep down I know that’s right. I guess I just wanted it to be wrong. 
Plus I guess I’m in the minority - I think guys look great in jewelry.
If the guy is already hot, the right kind of jewelry can make him even hotter. But if he’s not hot, it’ll make him look trashy.
I like wearing jewelry, in moderation.
I only wear jewelry when I have to dress nice (suit, tie clip, really nice watch or pocket watch). The only jewelry I wear day-to- day is my wedding ring.
My husband loves jewelry and owns a ton of it. He is 51 but has been wearing it all his adult life, so yeah, if your guy isn’t wearing jewelry by this time he won’t really know what to do with a necklace if you got him one.
I see what you did there…
As for the topic: Don’t necessarily assume he doesn’t like jewelry–he may just be indifferent to it. That’s pretty much me, at least, in small amounts. If someone I loved wanted me to wear it, I would, but not wearing it is the easiest (and least expensive) so it’s the default.
The exception is wearing a ring or two while playing piano, which I personally think looks pretty cool. But, even then, I default to not doing it because it’s easier. (I can’t buy rings off the shelf or anything, so I only own one ring–my cheap class ring.)
For some reason I prefer silver men’s jewelry and the thinner and plainer, the better.