Who said: “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”? Marilyn Monroe immortalised this line from Hollywood hit, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), but seriously guys, times they are a -changin’, and 65-years on it can equally be said, “Diamonds are a Man’s Best Friend”. But not for reasons you might traditionally expect, such as a declaration of love or a way to win over the significant woman in your life.
No, we’re talking ‘man bling’, and when it comes to (simulated) diamonds, the bigger the (um, errr) rocks the more ‘ballsy’ the fashion statement. Men crave sparkle just as much as women and diamonds, in particular, have become markers of masculine confidence.
Global men’s styling authority, mrporter.com, claims the mainstream trend towards man bling had “a lot to do with the exploding popularity of Instagram twinned with the emergence of street-style photographers and menswear bloggers”.
Secrets spoke to one Brisbane-based street culture influencer (who goes by his Instagram handle @deadpierre) about the manly appeal of diamonds. For 21-year-old @deadpierre, it’s north America rappers such as Tory Lanez and (the late) Lil Peep, who have influenced his own sartorial self-expression.
“I moved out of home when I was 16,” he says. "I came from a wealthy but broken family and for some time I lived on the streets until I turned my life around.
“For me, wearing diamonds is a display of my success, same goes for my rapper idols, it’s about showing the world that they’ve made it.”
Big ‘man-diamonds’ are not just the province of a subculture of disenfranchised youth. The Aussie urban blogger (@deadpierre) believes with enough millennial men embracing the trend it will go mainstream.
Secrets stylist Mel Giumelli says two-carat studs (or larger) have long been popular with our male clientele, however in the last 12-months she’s noticed a trend towards men purchasing 10-carat yellow gold princess cut tennis cut bracelets for themselves.
“The square stones have a more masculine appeal and because they’re set in a half bezel, they can withstand more rough treatment than our more delicate tennis bracelets,” Mel says.
“Back in the ‘90s, everyone from schoolboys to rock stars wore a single diamond stud in one ear. These days anything goes, like Ne-Yo wearing multiple diamond studs in one ear, a huggie (small hoop earring) in the other and a diamond all-rounder on his ring finger.”
(The popular American singer was seen sporting this get-up at the Grammy’s recently).
Instagrammer @deadpierre says he felt “happy walking in to such a high end shop” to buy his Secrets brilliant cut claw set diamond simulant tennis bracelet.
“The staff were very helpful in educating me about Secrets stones so I understood what I was purchasing,” he says.
“The quality appealed to me, plus the fact that it lasts a lifetime, can be worn in water and I can go in to any Secrets store to get it professionally cleaned for free.
“Rather than spend $16,000 on a diamond tennis bracelet, I’d prefer to spend $850 on a Secrets one and use the money I’d saved to invest more in to my own developing business, or put that money towards saving for a luxury car, such as the BMW X6.”
Guys, it’s time to start sharing your Secrets. Shop now online or in store.
