WarmGlass.com

Several people have asked me if I have any fused glass jewelry for men. I don't, but am thinking of creating some. Does anyone else have experience with this? Is there demand/interest for it? What colors, images, etc have you used? Any ideas are welcome.

I've had the opposite experience. I'm a man and I make jewelry women like to buy. Go figure.

Back when I was MUCH younger, I made punk-rock type jewelry. Men like the same thing as women, except:
1) they like short necklaces
2) pendants are ok, but not too big,
3) they don't like pink, or most pastels (think black or brown),
4) and if it at all looks "gay" then they won't buy it - unless they are gay.

Also, one other note I now realize after writing this, is that mostly young men buy jewelry. The older men try to drag their wives away saying something like, "That's too much money for just a piece of glass."

Good luck,
Judd

i was approached by a trendy store that sells clothing and jewelry for the stylish gay man. theyre interested in my pendants, and short is the length, which makes sense. this project will probably come to fruition in 2004, so i'll report back on it then. it's too late in the year for me to take on a new customer with Christmas looming.

i've been meaning to get around to marketing to certain surf shops since my product line is Hawaiian by name. aside from the large number of female surfers who might buy my earrings, i think some guys might go for the pendants if the leather cord was a little thicker, and the pendant was more square. if the boys can spring for a $3000 new stick, i dont see why they wouldnt buy an ocean-blue dichroic necklace -- they're already wearing all kinds of other stuff.

I've sold cufflinks to men...for a while they were really popular here.

I've sold bracelets to men and certain of my pendants. Men also wear beads, at least here in CA, if they're on a short cord/chain and not too bright.

Men also wear rings if they're big and not too bright.

Geri

I like, and regularly wear bracelets. Have been thinking of making some out of glass, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Cliff

Can't think of anything in the jewelry line, but maybe something like fancy fused glass Golf Ball Markers.

A fused Dichro Cab, a sterling silver bezel and post on the back.

You could be making millions from all the crazy golfers.

Ron

Money clips, tie tacks.

http://www.cherylkumiski.com/shop/mens-shop.htm

I've had quite a few men make positive comments on the pendants I've worn - usually smaller pieces and guy colors - blues or golds. I've never had a man say "I really like your mauve pendant". With UT and also the music scene here in Austin there should be a market for it. Although, I work with about 50 guys and I don't think many of them wear jewelry....will have to take note of it tomorrow and get back to you.

Oh, and I love the golf ball marker idea Ron!

Susan

I've had good luck with tie tacks and money clips. Occasionally, a straight man will purchase one of my pendants, but the gay guys have been some of my best customers ... gotta love them! Both like the pendants on a short cord and blues/purples/black sell best to them.
Deb

Has anyone tried bolos for men/women?

Yep, tried bolos. I suppose you have to hit the right crowd for those. I made several very intricate designs for my last show in dichro with sterling tips and they just didn't hit that magical "sell" button. Ditto on belt buckles. Of course this is a beach-lovers locale, so maybe other areas of the country would fare differently. The women simply don't wear bolos here and the men would never buy one for themselves (refer to Judd's post earlier). I'll have to target some western wear shops or square dancers. Yee-ha! Then again, who has the time!

DOLORES (not planning to make one more bolo or belt buckle till one sells!)

Dolores, I went to your web site. Check it out y'all. I was fascinated with the pet and people portraits. I gathered my co-workers who are dog-lovers and everyone was impressed!
Re: bolos. Maybe they would go here. The "market days" that I am going to has lots of Americana, and this is Texas, after all. The artist next to me sells lots of barbed (or bob'd, as people were saying there) wire art/craft. Dolores, what kind of slider-thing did you use? The silver box-like ones at Rio Grande are a bit expensive. I like the silver tips. Still not sure if I want to offer this.

I've sold various design incarnations of fused bolos since the late 80's. It's mostly the artsy crowd (creative types and their spouses) who buy these.

For some reason I still haven't figured out, my cuff links are a hit with laywers. Sixty percent of my links sales have been to the men in the legal business and I'm not marketing directly to them in any way. Go figure.......

Button cover sales have never taken off - LOL! There was one brief year -somewhere around '90-91 - of brisk sales in this department, bought and worn mostly by women.

Real men don't wear jewelry on their bodies. THey'll hang it from their rear-view mirror though. Think Dale Earnhard motifs. Ford and Chevy, Harley, Playboy bunny ears, and those little silouettes/stickfigures of seated girls with big boobs. Fuzzy dice. Bass, muskie, walleye, whitetail deer bucks.

I've made myself depressed.

Yo Ruth,
In regards to your bolo slider question, I epoxy simple nickel plated ones for the backs of the dichro cab, but glue on sterling silver tips for a fancier presentation (Rio Grande's, of course). Glad you like my website but I'm not satisfied with it's "homemade" appearance. I'm trying to design a more professional (faster!?!) one, but Dreamweaver is befuddling me! Started out as a porcelain painter and fell into glass about a year and a half ago. There many great porcelain techniques that transfer over well to glass and the cross over between the two worlds has been a great advantage to my designs.
Button covers/buttons...ha, Iagree that they aren't big sellers. The good 'ol pendant -earrings- bracelet staples ALWAYS steal the show! The primary buying block is usually mid-aged women. Men just aren't that interested in personal adornment unless they are artists or of the other persausion (and I'm not referring to the lawyers here, unless of course, they happen to be gay).

DOLORES

ruthpowers wrote:Has anyone tried bolos for men/women?

For the benefit of an uneducated Brit, what's a bolo?

Peg, a bolo tie is a western string tie. Look at them here http://www.sedonaindianjewelry.com/Jewelry/bolotie.html

Best wishes,
Tom in Texas

wow tom, thanks for that site. rosanna

Another, inexpensive supplier for tie tacks, money clips, etc. is Monsterslayer.com.

ack - you all beat me to it!

As a Brit living in the US I just felt compelled to answer this question!

Lol,

Sadie