Poor guys.

As a woman, we have a very broad palate to work with when it comes to jewelry. Call if a larger margin for error. We can wear stuff that sparkles, shines, dangles and jangles. Mens jewelry, on the other hand, has to be soft, sensible and walk a thin line between what is cool and what is overkill. While a woman can wear something that’s bold and it can come off as daring and a reflection of a rebellious attitude (in a good way), there is nothing less sexy on a man than jewelry that is too in your face. Heck, the difference between one gold chain and two could be the difference between marriage and not getting a second date.

But before you go feeling all bad for your man consider something else: the good thing about men’s jewelry is that it’s, well, simple. Think about it: for women picking which earrings to wear with which outfit isn’t so much a choice as it is a production. When men ask why it takes women so long to get dressed I laugh because it’s not the dressing that takes so long, it’s picking the right types of accessories. Heck, for a man a piece of jewelry is a ring or a simple necklace that can be worn with any outfit from a suit to a running outfit. They don’t even need to deal with a jewelry box, they just keep it in a dresser or in some plate that contains gun wrappers and spare buttons.

I once asked a guy what type of jewelry his wife likes. His answer took about twenty minutes as he knew every single little intricacy that she likes in her rings, necklaces and earrings. Then I asked him another question: what type of jewelry does he like for himself. After a second he answered a two part answer: A) I don’t know and B) To be honest I don’t really like jewelry. You see, for men a piece of jewelry is more of a commemoration than fashion. They wear a ring to show they are married or a necklace that symbolizes someone special in their life. Other than that, most guys don’t even like jewelry. The men who like jewelry like to be flashy so they aren’t going to worry that much about subtlety and that thin line that they are supposed to balance on. So next time you feel bad that you never buy jewelry for your man, don’t. He probably would rather you spend the money on a sporting event or outdoor toy.

Author Kim Green feels that mens jewelry is just as beautiful as womens.

Last week, one of my very best male friends hit me with a rather interesting and unexpected question: when did it become passé to wear men’s jewelry? I was kinda taken back by this question. I guess I never thought of men’s jewelry as being passé? Was I out of the loop or was it that I just run into something that is only purely a male idea.

I guess I can see his point: men’s jewelry has always had sort of a dubious history. It’s had a history of either being overused or looked at as (gasp!) non-masculine. The whole “bling” movement of the last twenty years hasn’t necessarily helped things either. It just turned overdoing jewelry into an art form.

For me though, and most of the girls I know, we actually like a bit of jewelry on a man. One or two rings is usually not a bad thing (wedding rings are always permissible) and a subtle necklace is fine (trust me women hate the “blinged” out look too). Necklaces are not a bad thing as long as they symbolize something to you and as long as they don’t overdo the diamond thing. Unfortunately, though, it seems like men have been believing the hype more then what women actually think.

Men are missing the fact that right now the men’s jewelry market is taking leaps and bounds. Not only are looks being modernized, but new materials are being brought into the fray. Let me give you an example: one of my favorite pieces of jewelry to come onto the scene in recent years has actually been a male design- the titanium ring. There is something that I find so intriguing about not only the use of titanium metal, but also the designs that they do with them. Using black and silver titanium, the rings have a semi-industrial look, but also give off a sophisticated elegance that you just can’t get from gold. It’s revolutionary if you ask me and in no way even close to looking “passé”. They’ve even found ways to embed small diamonds into the band which adds an entirely new dimension to the pieces.

So I’ll again reiterate to any man who is reading this article: women like a little jewelry on their man. The idea that jewelry has become passé is purely a male idea. Heck, in the 50′s when “men were men” (that’s what guys say, right?) men wore rings and necklaces all the time, right? So just keep that in mind and if you find a nice, subtle ring just go ahead and buy it. Trust me, you’ll feel better.

Author Kimberly Green loves to share her knowledge of men’s jewelry with her husband and his friends.

For athletes there are is nothing more beautiful than an Olympic medal around your neck. Though they aren’t for everyday use, can an Olympic medal be considered a piece of jewelry?

Is an Olympic medal a piece of jewelry? I know it’s more substantial then say a necklace you bought at Target, but does it qualify as a piece of mens jewelry or women’s jewelry because of its resemblance to a necklace? Maybe I’m just stretching, and I doubt that any athlete would ever wear it on a daily basis, but outside of something like the hope diamond, in my opinion an Olympic medal would be just about the coolest piece of jewelry you could ever wear. Imagine walking into a party with that thing on. Who wouldn’t be impressed?

I write this as I’m watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Paralympic games in Vancouver. Here in the US the Paralympic Games aren’t exactly “Muse-see” TV. Regardless, it’s some of the best athletes in the world excelling at what they do best. It’s essentially the same format as the Olympics with gold, silver and bronze medals with each athlete proudly representing their country. The medals vary slightly from the Olympic ones but still have the basic round design. They are impressive pieces of work which any able bodied Olympian would be proud to have.

So back to my original point: are Olympic medals considered jewelry? Mirriam-Webster defines jewelry as “objects of precious metal often set with gems and worn for personal adornment”. That sounds pretty much like an Olympic medal. No jewels I know, but a good amount of everyday jewelry doesn’t feature gems. Furthermore, the medals can be worn for personal adornment, but like so much other jewelry throughout history they don’t need to be. If you go to a museum and look at a lot of the jewelry on display much of it was maybe worn once and then put on display for the public (like J-Lo’s dresses).  So from definition sake it seems that medals would definitely be jewelry.

The thing is that most athletes would probably not want to wear their medals as everyday wear. Besides the fact that they could lose them (by accident or by force), there are also two other factors. First, you look like a jerk wearing an Olympic medal everywhere you go. It’s like “Fine, we get it, you were the best in your field, now stop shoving it in our faces your stuck up so-and-so”. Secondly, with the weight of the gold medal on your chest they don’t exactly look comfortable. It looks like every time they would swing and hit your chest another bruise would occur.

So, do Olympic medals count as pieces of men’s and women’s jewelry? By definition yes. But if you ask an athlete, they would probably rather just keep it in their display cases.

Author Kimberly Green recommends titanium-jewelry.com for an excellent quality men’s rings and other exquisite mens jewelry

When they are kids, boys dream of being a champion. For a select few this dream is realized, and for even fewer it is realized multiple times.

While men’s rings are big business, there is one ring that most boys grow up dreaming about possessing at some point: a championship ring. Championship rings mean that you are at the pinnacle of your sport. May it be baseball, basketball, football or hockey, championships are what the business is all about.

Whether or not you let championships define you more often has to do with how your career goes. If you’ve won them you wouldn’t change them in for anything. If you haven’t, hey, you would have liked one but you were a great overall player. Two of the most famous all-time great players to never win a championship in their sport were football quarterback Dan Marino and baseball shortstop Ernie Banks. Marino’s Miami Dolphins made the Super Bowl his first season, then lost and never made it back. Although he held many records at the end of his career, he is known as the greatest quarterback to never win a Super Bowl.

History judges Ernie Banks a bit kinder. A Hall of Fame shortstop for the Chicago Cubs in the 60’s, Banks played on some notoriously bad (and some say cursed) Cubs teams which famously didn’t win a playoff series for around a century. Because of this (and the fact that he’s so likeable) Banks usually gets a pass and continues to be one of the most beloved players in Cubs history.

Going to the other side of the spectrum, winning multiple championships takes not only skill but longevity. While hundreds of players have won multiple championships, three stand above everyone else. Of those three, two players lead with eleven championships each: basketball’s Bill Russell and hockey’s Henri Richard. Both players were key factors in two of the biggest dynasties in sports history. Playing forward for the Boston Celtics, Russell won his eleven championships in just thirteen seasons including eight straight titles from 1959-1966. Similarly, Richard’s Montreal Canadian’s were the dominate team of 50’s, 60’s and 70’s winning his eleven cups in eighteen seasons.

In baseball, beloved catcher of the dominate 50’s and 60’s Yankees dynasty, Yogi Berra, holds the record with ten rings. Berra won his ten championships between 1947 thru 1962, helping to anchor a team full of such Hall of Famers as Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.

While children may dream of winning a championship someday in their favorite sport, few could imagine winning enough to fill each finger on both hands. It’s one thing to be on a team that wins, it’s a whole other thing to be on eleven of them. These truly are the greatest.

Author Kimberly Green recommends titanium-jewelry.com for an excellent quality men’s rings and other exquisite jewelry.

For over 100 years the Olympics have awarded excellence with gold, silver and bronze medals. What you might not know is that recently medals have been infused with such substances as glass and jade.

As most of you are aware, both men’s jewelry and women’s jewelry are usually deeply personal and treasured pieces of one’s overall ensemble. Many pieces of a person’s jewelry collection has deeply personal meaning as they are collected thru special purchases  or from a significant other or through family hand-me-downs that passes antique jewelry thru generations.

For athletes, though, there is no better piece of jewelry that you can have in your possession than an Olympic medal. As the Olympics are in full swing, a whole new set of athletes are securing these sets of medals. Like jewelry, Olympic medals have become more stylish throughout the years. In the first Olympics games of the modern era in 1896, silver medals were given out to the winners. It wasn’t until later Olympics that the gold for first place, silver for second and bronze for third system was adapted.

Up until the 1990’s Olympic medals were usually rather benign. They were usually one color and printed with a symbol and the name of the Olympic city. It wasn’t until the 1992 Winter Olympics that this changed. The Albertville, France hosted games were known for quirky designs, and their glass infused medals were no different. In fact, the medals were more glass then precious medal. Athletes didn’t seem to mind as they were beautifully crafted and, hey, an Olympic medal is an Olympic medal.

The 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympic medals continued this quirkiness, and it wasn’t until 2008 until the usually more traditional Summer Olympics utilized foreign materials in the medals. The highly praised 2008 Beijing Olympic Medals utilized jade, which gave them both a modern and classical look. Since China spent billions of dollars trying to prefect everything about the games (at least on the surface), it’s no surprise that they provided some of the most beautiful medals in Olympic history. My guess would be that London, the host of the 2012 Olympics, presents medals that are more in line with the classical medals instead of using foreign material as the Chinese did.

More Olympic medal trivia to impress your friends: the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy was the first to feature Olympic medals with holes in the center of them (they were circles and rather fetching). The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic medals are the first to be “wavy”. They feature engraved emblems of the sports for which the winners participated in and are struck nine times to get their wave feature. Trust me, they look better then you might think.

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