Men’s jewellery can be different – and this is the proof

Also men love to wear jewellery but online we find catalogues and websites that all look the same, chasing whatever happens to be in fashion at the moment (or, more often, in the last fifteen minutes), with nobody really paying attention to something so many consider superfluous. The result is not a beautiful show of accessories that say nothing about the personality of the wearer, apart from a certain carelessness.

Things can, however, be imagined and made differently – and men’s jewellery really can make a difference not only to a look, but to how you feel wearing it. Vivienne Westwood’s latest collection hits the mark and succeeds where others have failed miserably, often without even trying.

Beyond the brand

Vivienne Westwood’s logo is one of the most recognisable in fashion. Her orb has filled shop windows, walked runways, shaped the collective imagination and taken up residence in the wardrobes of women and men all over the world, always worn with a certain boldness.

On paper, all the ingredients are there to cash in: roll out a collection that leans entirely on a much-loved, easily marketable logo. To our surprise, that is not what happened.

The orb, a perfect synthesis of the spirit of the british fashion House, is of course there in different shapes, styles and materials. It clasps pearls, commands the chest when it hangs from a pendant, and appears again as a detail on bracelets. More than that, many of the pieces created by the House form a kind of complete set of pendant, bracelet, ring and earring that all follow the same line of thought. Surprise: it never becomes tiresome. It works because, unlike what our low expectations have taught us to expect whenever we approach men’s jewellery, there is a real idea behind it.

An idea that is beautifully realised through textures, colours and materials that genuinely interpret it. They let it speak, let it live, and allow it to interact not only with the eye, but with the mood of the person weighing up the purchase.

Men in pearls? Count me in. The necklaces – see the Man. Bas Relief Pearl Necklace – are simply S T U N N I N G. They pair the most classic element in jewellery, the pearl, with clasps and pendants that respect and reflect the most creative spirit of Vivienne Westwood’s creations. A bittersweet mix we will never get enough of, one that has once again surprised our fashion taste buds.

Hearts, worn off the chest – and on your fingers

The heart is another of Vivienne Westwood’s recurring motifs, and in our view it is used with a very deliberate desire to assert dominance. In the hands of hundreds of other designers it would easily slide into cliché; in those of Vivienne Westwood’s designers, it takes on a central, never banal role and, above all, one that lets you feel an actual heartbeat.

You can wear it off the chest, in symbiosis with what you keep inside it, or on your fingers or at your ears. You can just as easily pair it with the more macabre pieces, the skeletons that belong to the English fashion House’s tradition.