Welcome to JCK’s men’s jewelry supplement. Before you dig in, you may be wondering why we’ve anchored it with a feature about the promising unisex category. 

For starters, our society’s growing acceptance of transgenderism and the fluid gender dynamics that come with it make the unisex conversation extremely relevant. Look to what tastemakers such as Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele are doing. Earlier this year, Michele announced that in 2017, Gucci would be combining its men’s and women’s runway shows.

“It will not necessarily be an easy path and will certainly present some challenges, but I believe it will give me the chance to move toward a different kind of approach to my storytelling,” Michele told WWD.

For JCK readers, the moral of the story is that gender-free jewels are gaining traction—especially among young buyers, for whom gender constructs no longer resonate—and knowing how to buy and sell them will give you an edge in the marketplace. Contributor Randi Molofsky’s insightful exploration of unisex style (“How to Tap Into the Booming Unisex Jewelry Market”) is a great place to start.

For men who don’t fancy themselves gender-benders, however, we’ve got a product feature, “What (Jewelry) a Guy Wants,” chock-full of new men’s jewels that are at once manly and stylish—thankfully, no longer a contradiction in terms!

(Photograph by Steven Simko)