Jewelry that falls into the category of statement jewelry always brings an observer’s attention toward the piece. It may be a ring with a wide width or one decorated with many stones. It may be that the color of the piece stands out in strong contrast to a person’s skin tone or piece of clothing. In addition, something about the design may be particularly striking, too.

Most of the jewelry I make is from oxidized stainless steel. The oil and heat treatment post forging give it this deep black appearance. Much of my work falls into the statement jewelry category. Because of my expertise in this niche, I’ve noticed some interesting things.

1. We can bring out a piece or hide it depending on what we’re wearing (also our skin tone). Copper and brass tones are sometimes lost on my skin. But silver and black stand out a lot. One thing you’ll see me do often is pair a black ring with a black watch or a black bracelet. The combination of the two is striking, but the design of the ring and the watch in this example is within what I’d call the present day socially acceptable definition of stylish. While I’m a big proponent of wear what you want and tell the world to f*** off, my personal style leans more toward the classy side. The ring and watch/bracelet combination I’m talking about can be worn with dress clothes, active attire, and is worked well into a business casual look.
1. For reference the watch is a Seiko with a dark gunmetal finish (close to black) and the ring is Nexus or Destiny from my own collection. I love the subtleties of alexandrite and the color range it displays in various light environments.
2. The number of pieces you wear matters. It’s common for many of us to ask ourselves: How many pieces of jewelry should you wear at one time? The more you wear, the more you run the risk of falling into the tacky category (again f*** what people say). And the more you wear, the more each piece runs the chance of getting lost in the sea of accessories you’ve equipped. While I don’t personally believe there’s a hard rule for this, I’ve more or less settled on a limit of no more than five pieces for myself.
1. What this looks like in practice:
1. 2 rings and a watch on one hand/ arm, and two pendant necklaces, one chain being at least 4 inches longer than the other.
2. One ring and two bracelets on the same hand.
3. 2 bracelets on the same wrist and a pendant or two.
4. Watch on one wrist, a bracelet on the other, and a pendant.

Wearing Jewelry to work

I advise under pretty much every set of circumstances to avoid this if any aspect of your job requires handling a lot of objects with your hands or if you do any kind of physical labor (there’s also the health risks involved in the food service and healthcare industries). Some people advocate that it may be okay to wear a chain under your shirt.

I’ve worked construction in my life and making jewelry the way I do puts myself around bench and angle grinders on the daily. I like my body the way it is. It doesn’t matter how much I love a new piece I just made, safety is my priority— and I wish more people would take their own a bit more seriously.

If you want to look good for an event/ date, walking around town, or if your job doesn’t put you at risk, I say go for it. Otherwise, ask yourself if you should be wearing jewelry before you leave to go to work. If there’s hesitation not relating to self-confidence issues, leave it at home.

If it relates to what this one person said that one time (or your whole life), **** em’. Own your look like a boss.

Business casual jewelry

If you ask me, there’s a tremendous amount of leeway in the realm of business casual jewelry. Cord bracelets and shortened malas have become popular picks for men. Rings are in too, though I’ve noticed more acceptance for slimmer bands. What I mean is that a 14 mm is beefy and manly as hell, but in this context swapping it for one around 7 mm is going to serve the look a little better. And you’d be surprised how a simple polished stainless steel ring can bring an outfit together by itself.

For me personally, I stay away from necklaces in these scenarios. They don’t do it for me here and I feel they pull focus from the outfit rather than synergize with it. But feel free to ignore my advice on this and prove me wrong. Fashion trends are constantly evolving.

How to wear jewelry to look classy

I make jewelry with a hammer and anvil. It’s bad*** as hell, but it doesn’t always lend itself to the subtle clean lines that often accompany classy. Yes, I’m aware certain statement pieces one hundred percent don’t fall into this classy category.

What I mean when I say classy, is that the pieces contribute to the outfit in a way that creates this atmosphere around the individual that they are well dressed and put together. This leaves a wide range of possible styles and it’s exactly how I prefer it. 

How I like to appear is with clothes that are well suited to my body type. I’m usually of an athletic build and for me I want clothes that show off my chest and shoulders without overly hugging my stomach. I prefer shades (white, gray, black) to intense colors which means that my style matches most of the jewelry I make.

An off white shirt paired with European off white denim looks very striking on its own. Pair it with black accessories and we get a classy rock-star vibe to the whole outfit.

An all black outfit with all black jewelry is also very striking. But to me, it’s better to pair the all black with the polished stainless accessories I’ve made and leave my watch at home for the day.

Everyone has different styles. An old money type of look isn’t going to be as flashy as my go to’s. At the same time the more full color styles are going to blow my color palette away. How we match jewelry with our outfit really depends on how we like to dress and what colors we like.

Gold and brass (which I can get to look so much like one another it’s scary) are not my favorite colors for myself. In part because I have my own hang ups around wealth and power. I see these as a symbol of those. They don’t make me feel comfortable. It’s the complete opposite with steel. The metal makes me feel at home in my own skin.

Part of wearing jewelry to look classy is that at some point I feel we should be comfortable in what we’re wearing. Both the clothes and the accessories. 

If we’re making adjustments to our style, this can take some time. My hope is that what we wear becomes a reflection of our self-expression. Not only that, but that it becomes fun— not something riddled with self-judgment or hurtful words from around us.

One last little tip regarding jewelry. And I promise it’s not a plug for the stuff I make (you can buy non-handmade goods on a lot of reseller sites for cheap). If you like gold or silver, try polished brass or stainless steel in the beginning. They look similar and won’t cost you as much as you play around with your style.