Men’s Jewellery Guide: Should You Wear Gold or Silver?

Jewellery used to be pretty straightforward for men. You wore a watch, maybe a wedding ring, maybe a bracelet, and that was about the extent of it.

Well, not anymore. Chains, bracelets, earrings, and signet rings have all become part of everyday men’s jewellery, which is honestly flipping fantastic because men deserve to adorn themselves in beautiful jewellery too.

Except now you’ve got another decision to make: gold or silver jewellery?

Perhaps you’ve always gravitated towards one. Or maybe you were once given a gold ring and just decided all your jewellery moving forward would be gold. Perhaps you’re looking to buy your first piece of jewellery and have absolutely no idea which metal suits you.

Naturally, the style world has rules. Warm skin tones should wear gold. Cool skin tones should wear silver. Match your metals. Never mix them. Your jewellery should match your watch. Your jewellery should match your belt.

Thankfully, it’s really not that serious. Certain metals can complement different skin tones, colours and wardrobes, but jewellery is also deeply personal. The best metal for you is probably going to be the one that works with your wardrobe, the jewellery you already own and, crucially, the one you like.

But if you really want to know whether gold or silver is better for you, here’s what you need to know.

What Jewellery Suits Your Skin Tone

One of the most common pieces of jewellery advice is to match your metal to your skin’s undertone. The general rule: warmer undertones tend to suit yellow gold, while cooler undertones tend to suit silver or white gold. Neutral undertones can usually wear either.

Sounds easy, right? But how exactly does one work out their skin undertone? One common trick is looking at the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they appear more green, you’re supposedly warm-toned. Blue or purple suggests cool and somewhere in between probably indicates neutral.

You can also think about the clothing colours you naturally gravitate towards. If cream, brown, olive, rust and other earthy colours tend to bring out your best features, gold jewellery will sit nicely alongside them. If you prefer black, grey, navy, crisp white and cooler colours, silver is a pretty natural fit. However, stylist Christina Robert White says the finish is also important.

“All golds aren’t the same, and all silvers aren’t the same,” she explains to Man of Many. “If you have very soft colouring, go for a soft gold rather than a very yellow gold, so it doesn’t overpower you.”

But is matching your jewellery to your skin tone a hard and fast rule? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Matthew Banks, founder of Merchants of the Sun, tells Man of Many it’s very subjective, and the answer will change depending on who you ask.

“My personal opinion is that silver looks a lot better on cooler skin tones, particularly for guys, whereas warmer skin tones can pull off gold or silver and look great in both,” says Banks. 

However, if you’re cool-toned and love gold (me), wear gold – and vice versa if you’re warm-toned. Nobody is going to stop you on the street to let you know your jewellery has failed to adequately complement your veins. 

How to Match Your Jewellery to Your Wardrobe

Your skin tone can point you in the right direction, but take a look at your wardrobe too. Certain metals naturally work particularly well with certain colours, and if 90 per cent of your wardrobe falls into one camp, that might make the gold-or-silver decision easier.

Robert White says warmer shades such as clay, terracotta, olive and orange-based colours naturally lend themselves to gold, while silver tends to work particularly well with charcoal, navy, black and icy blue.

If you wear a lot of…	Try…	Why it works
Black	Gold or silver	Silver keeps things cool and understated, while gold creates more contrast and warmth.
White	Gold or silver	Both work easily. Gold warms up crisp white, while silver keeps the look clean and minimal.
Navy	Gold	Navy and gold is a classic combination, with the warmth of gold standing out nicely against the darker blue.
Grey	Silver	Cool grey tones naturally pair with silver, particularly if your wardrobe leans minimal or monochromatic.
Cream and beige	Gold	Warm neutrals tend to work well with yellow gold and make it feel less flashy.
Brown and tan	Gold	The warm tones complement each other, especially with brown leather shoes, belts and accessories.
Olive and khaki	Gold	Gold works beautifully with earthy greens and gives otherwise utilitarian colours a slightly more elevated feel.
Light blue	Silver	Silver complements the cooler blue without creating too much contrast.
Denim	Gold or silver	Denim is neutral enough to work with both. Silver makes the outfit more casual, while gold can dress it up slightly.
Pastels	Silver	Cooler silver sits nicely alongside soft blues, pinks, lilacs and greens without clashing with them.
Earthy colours	Gold	Rust, camel, chocolate, forest green and similar warmer colours naturally lend themselves to gold.

Scroll horizontally to view full table

Of course, none of this means you need to start colour-matching your jewellery every morning (this is more of a handy shortcut than a rulebook).

And if your wardrobe contains a little bit of everything? Congratulations, we’ve somehow managed to make the decision no easier for you, so just pick the one you like. 

When Gold Jewellery Works Best

Gold tends to have a larger presence, which is why some men love it, and others initially find it intimidating. It also lends itself beautifully to vintage-inspired dressing. Loafers, pleated trousers, knitted polos, open-collar shirts, a vintage watch and a subtle gold ring all live very happily in the same universe.

Or, as Robert White puts it: “Gold speaks more of a luxury European vibe: old school and extravagant.”

When Silver Jewellery Works Best

If you’re completely new to jewellery, silver is arguably the more painless place to begin. It’s understated, versatile and works with almost everything most men already own (black tees, white shirts, denim, grey tailoring, navy, sneakers, leather jackets). It’s also slightly more contemporary and casual than yellow gold, particularly when you’re dealing with chunkier chains, rings and bracelets.

“Silver suits a more edgy aesthetic, a little bit more street style, and it’s seen as more rock and roll and modern,” says Robert White.

How to Mix Gold and Silver Jewellery

Mixing metals used to be treated as some great sartorial crime, but gold and silver can absolutely be worn together. In fact, mixing them on purpose can make jewellery feel less precious and more personal.

The key word there is on purpose. If you’re wearing one gold ring, a silver watch, a silver necklace and a silver bracelet, the lonely gold ring might look a bit out of place. Instead, repeating each metal somewhere else can make the combination feel far more considered.

That said, not everyone is completely sold on the mixed-metal look.

“Personally, I’m not a huge fan of too much mixed metal, but it can be done tastefully,” Robert White says. “A bit of gold inlaid between two silver pieces, or vice versa, gives you harmony and balance.”

Banks, meanwhile, is more enthusiastic.

“I absolutely recommend wearing silver and gold together,” he says, although he does have one caveat: “My only advice is to mix silver with a paler gold (around 9k), as richer gold tones can clash and look out of place.”

For an easy way in, Banks suggests choosing one piece that already contains both metals, or introducing a single gold piece into an otherwise silver stack. Think a gold pendant on a silver chain, or one gold ring among several silver ones.

Robert White’s advice similarly comes back to balance. Rather than throwing together two metals for the sake of it, look at whether they feel harmonious as part of the overall outfit.

So, even our experts can’t completely agree on mixed metals. Perhaps that’s all the permission you need to make up your own mind.

How to Build Your Jewellery Collection

If you’re currently jewellery-less and want to improve your jewellery game, we wouldn’t advise going out and raising your nearest Michael Hill’s (although you could start here to find out about some of our favourite men’s jewellery brands). 

Instead, listen to Banks’ advice: “Pick a ring or chain you’re gravitating towards. Don’t overthink it. Wear it for a couple of weeks and you’ll be inseparable from it. Stack and build on that over time and before you know it, you’ll be a jewellery guy.” 

And while we’ve spent much of this guide talking about whether gold works with navy or silver suits your skin tone, Banks makes a pretty good argument for not getting too caught up in how jewellery looks. For him, the value of jewellery goes much deeper.

“Jewellery is so much more than style. It’s one of the oldest things humans have ever made. Long before it was fashion, it was protection, status, a promise, a way of carrying someone with you. Nearly every culture on earth has worn metal for a reason bigger than how it looks.”

“Silver has always been tied to the moon and gold to the sun. Silver is the most conductive metal there is, and I believe these metals hold energy. A piece you wear every day is with you through everything. The good years, the hard ones, the trips, the people. It takes on the marks of all of it, and that’s why a ring from your grandfather feels different in your hand from one off a shelf.”

Which perhaps brings us to the most important advice: after all the talk of undertones, wardrobes, and style, the piece you choose should mean something to you.

“Don’t just buy something because it looks good. Pick the piece that you feel drawn to and can’t explain why. Wear it, live in it, and one day hand it on,” says Banks.

So, Should Men Wear Gold or Silver Jewellery?

For anyone hoping this article would make the decision easier, we’re sorry to say the answer isn’t black and white (or gold and silver). Ultimately, wear what you want to wear.

Robert White has one final piece of advice, however: don’t default to silver simply because it’s traditionally been viewed as the more masculine option.

“Often guys steer clear of gold even though it’s the right metal for them, so don’t be afraid to experiment, and don’t just go for silver because it’s a ‘guy thing’,” she says.

“Silver isn’t necessarily every guy’s best metal. It’s often considered ‘the man’s jewellery’, and gold a little bit Eurotrash. We think of Liberace or Greek billionaires on their yachts. But men can look lovely in gold, just like women.”

And really, that goes for most of the ‘rules’ we’ve covered here. Skin tone and your wardrobe can point you in the right direction, while you can also take cues from your watch and the jewellery you already own. But none of those things should overrule the fact that you might simply really like gold, or really love silver.

And if you like both? Wear both. There are enough rules in life we need to follow. This is one you can absolutely break.

FAQs

More Style Coverage From Man of Many

• Men’s Earrings Guide
• Essential Men’s Jewellery Anchor Pieces
• A Guide to Men’s Dress Codes
• Best Australian Jewellery Brands You Should Know
• The Designer Accessories Every Well-Dressed Man Should Have On His Radar
• How to Look Expensive on a Budget
• A Fashion Expert’s Guide to Dressing Better