How To: Buy Her Jewelry

For many guys, buying jewelry for a woman is intimidating and discouraging. Like her shoes and her clothes, her jewelry speaks directly to her personal tastes, yet it uses a language and lexicon most of us find obscure and barely familiar. Meanwhile, some pieces of jewelry are loaded with symbolism ready to pop us like land mines if we’re not careful.

As a result, buying the right piece of jewelry begins to feel a lot like being down to your last dart, and in the wide sprawl around the bull's-eye, around getting it right, there seems to be a thousand ways to miss the mark and get it all wrong. So, here are some suggestions -- both general and more specific -- to steer you in the right direction.

Click here to check general suggestions.

Source: askmen

How to hang around with a pretty pendant

A bold pendant is the perfect piece of jewelry to liven a plain tank top or a flowery sundress. We asked celebrity jewelry designer Michael Greene and About.com fashion guru Cynthia Nellis to share some tips on wearing them:

Don't fear layers. Think of the pendant as a staple piece. Then add necklaces in different lengths and textures.

Consider color. If you want your pendant to pop, wear it on top of a solid color.

Size matters. Make sure the size of the pendant matches your body type. Small, animal-shaped pendants look adorable on smaller frames; larger frames can pull off statement-making medallions.

Try a new style. If the big shapes scare you, then try one that's open in the middle.

Think about placement. The larger the pendant, the lower it should hang on your torso. A 16- to 17-inch necklace works great for a smaller medallion that hits above the breastbone, but bigger pieces should have a necklace that's longer than 18 inches and hit below the breastbone.

Oversize pendants look best at or below the bust line, generally 30 inches or longer.

Keep it simple. If you do wear a statement-making pendant, don't overaccessorize. Keep earrings small, or avoid them altogether.

Source: seattletimes