What the World Series Taught Us About Men. They Love Pearls!
How Wearing My Dad’s Wedding Ring Lured Me into the White-Hot World of Male Jewelry
Welcome to The Nonlinear Life. In case you missed it, read my introductory post.
Every Friday on The Nonlinear Life we talk about life as we live it today. We explore the urgent and emotional issues at the nexus of family, health, work, and meaning. We call it This Life.
---
When my dad died last month, I had the sudden urge to wear a piece of his jewelry. Surprised by this thought, I was also intrigued. But, ugh, did I really want to lug around some bulky, 1950s college ring out of some ice-cream parlor dating ritual or, worse, don some insignia of a fraternity I wasn’t a part of?
The first change I got, I went into the top drawer of his dresser, where, among the metal collar stays and wooden-handle shoe brushes, I found, to my surprise, only one piece of jewelry. His wedding ring.
“He never wore it,” my mother said. “It aggravated his skin.”
“Hmmm,” I said. “Or maybe he just wasn’t the type of man who liked jewelry?”
Once I started wearing the ring on my right pinkie – the opposite hand of my wedding band – everyone had a story, and all the stories pointed in the same direction.
My father's ring
There are a lot more men who like jewelry these days.
That band of gold proved to be a plate of shrimp.
As far back as 2019, the BBC, which I would have thought would be even more out-of-step than I am, made this fashion trend seem old-fashioned by spelling the word with a dull second ‘l’—“Why more men are wearing jewellry”—and likening it to sixteenth-century portraits of Henry VIII and Sir Walter Raleigh. The New York Times credited the trend to Instagram. Others cited hip-hop culture, gender fluidity, and the blurring of gender roles among millennials and Gen Z.
King Henry VIII
But the pandemic seems to have pushed male jewelry even more into the mainstream. A necklace worn by actor Paul Mescal in Hulu’s quarantine sensation Normal People—excuse me, “a thin, silver whisper draped about a deliciously thick neck,” as The Cut called it—became a sensation of its own, with think pieces, TikTok memes, and its own Instagram feed (162K followers!).
Harry Styles, a one-man jewelry (er, jewellry) billboard, appeared on the cover of Vogue with a ring on every finger.
Harry Styles on the cover of American Vogue, December 2021
Men’s luxury retailer Matches Fashion said jewelry purchases soared last year, with sales doubling during the lockdown as people stopped buying clothes and turned instead to ring and chains.
GQ made it official this year by declaring a renaissance in men’s jewelry. “The best part of getting dressed in 2021? Deciding which pearls to wear.”
Pandemic notwithstanding, in any American city in 2021, you're likely to see a sudden riot of men sporting gem-encrusted tennis bracelets, baroque gold rings, and handmade beaded chokers. Just as men's fashion has become increasingly fluid and animated by womenswear flourishes, the jewelry universe has also undergone a profound shift. Whereas once there was a clear line separating traditionally feminine and masculine jewelry, that line hasn't been blurred so much as it's been completely destroyed.
Still, while it’s fine for Chinese Gen Z men to wear pearl earrings, to me, nothing quite marks this moment more than a pearl necklace at home plate in America’s fall classic. Besides soft-serve ice cream, the big breakout star of this year’s World Series was the pearl necklace of Atlanta Braves outfielder Joc Pederson.
Not that long ago, baseball’s biggest stage was a poster child for poor grooming. Remember this trend? World Series gets hairy with wild beards. Well, this year’s trend was the opposite. “What’s up with the pearls?” Joc Pederson and his necklace are the talk of MLB postseason.
It began with a whim. Pederson, a Palo Alto native who’s Jewish, once played for the Israeli national team, and won the World Series in 2020 with the Dodgers, woke up one day in September and said, “Hey, let’s try this pearl necklace.”
Fans went crazy, he said. “I don’t know what it is.” He added, “It’s different in Atlanta. Southern charm baby, southern charm.” Suddenly fans began wearing pearls to the stadium; stores sold out. “You look at the big screen in Atlanta and you got all these, you know, big, rough, tough guys,’’ Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told USA Today, “and they got pearls on. And all the ladies went in their jewelry boxes and got their pearls out.”
Joc Pederson, Atlanta Braves outfielder in his pearl necklace
The paper noted, “The pearl necklace has become the hottest commodity in the Deep South since chicken and waffles.”
As for me, I like chicken, and I like waffles, but separately, thank you. I’m stopping at my dad’s simple gold band for now. Fortunately, my mom is still thriving, so I don’t have to worry about her pearls for the time being.
As for Pederson’s pearls, he’s wearing them to the Braves victory parade on Friday, the sending them to Cooperstown. His necklace--and the moment it represents--will forever be part of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
☀
Thanks for reading The Nonlinear Life. Please help us grow the community by subscribing, sharing, and commenting below. Also, you can learn more about me, read my introductory post, or scroll through my other posts.
You might enjoy reading these posts:
Tips for Prolonging Pandemic Family Togetherness
Or these books: Life Is in the Transitions, The Secrets of Happy Families, and Council of Dads.
Or, you can contact me directly.
