The History Of Gents' Jewellery

Men are generally limited when it comes to the selection of gents' jewellery; rings, watches, cuffs, chains and earrings are a few of the items which are popularly worn by men as jewellery. The use of jewellery in general to enhance beauty can be traced back to the dawn of mankind. This is asserted by Archibald Campbell, an acclaimed archaeologist, who stated that "the first spiritual want of a barbarous man is decoration." He further stated that what separates humans from animals is the "desire to capture the essence of beauty, to posses its secrets and to unlock its mysteries."

The history of gents' jewellery can be traced back to about 100,000 years ago, which was the mid-stone age period. Archaeologists discovered mollusk jewellery in South Africa's Blombos caves, and they are thought to be the oldest man-made jewellery in existence.

Earrings made it to the list of gents' jewellery in recent times, and the wearing of earrings by men is associated with pop culture. The acceptance of earrings as jewellery pieces worn by men was for the longest time a taboo. Men who wore earrings were thought to be gay; however, archaeological findings show that historically men wore earrings much longer compared to women. In 1991, a male mummified corpse was discovered in Australia and the man's ears had been pierced in likeness to the Indian's ritualistic enlarged gauge piercings.

Gents' jewellery has also been associated with the primitive Indian tribes. These tribes are documented to have adorned facial piercings and other body modification tools similar to modern-day jewellery. In these communities, the body modification tools were used as symbols depicting status, social standing, age or wealth. The 1920's sailors are also documented to have adorned gold-made earrings and skull rings. The sailors wore these pieces in the hopes that the jewellery would be used to cover their burial, upon their demise. Towards the end of the 1960s going into the early 1970s, homosexuals and hippies began wearing earrings as a sign of rebellion. However, this trend quickly caught on as a fad picked up by athletes and punk rock musicians.

Currently gents' jewellery has evolved and there are a number of bold and intricate designs available in the market. Skull rings are adorned by athletes, bikers and fraternity members as a membership symbol. There is a wide selection of men's bracelets available in the market, which a number of men regularly adorn. There are a select section of men who also wear nose rings and brow rings. Most men go for plain chains or chains which suspend large crosses or pendants. The wearing of large pendants suspended on a chain has also been popularized by the pop culture. Like with fashion, jewellery trends are always evolving and gents' jewellery could likewise evolve into unimaginable heights