As a guy who’s already pretty comfortable wearing a couple of chains daily, nothing gets me browsing my jeweller of choice’s IG page quite like professional athletes these days. There’s an undeniable vibe to them. While not every sport permits jewellery to be worn on-field, chains and rings and bracelets are becoming a key part of an athlete’s wardrobe. If they can’t wear them while in uniform, you can almost certainly catch them dripped out for a tunnel walk or a pre-game (or race) conference.
While it’s far from a recent trend, the look got a ton of attention a couple weeks ago during Game 7 of the World Series. Los Angeles Dodgers player Miguel Rojas melted a home run into the stands in the 9th inning to tie up the ballgame, and while most folks were wrapped up in the implications on the game itself (as high stakes as it gets) a small subset couldn’t help but notice what was around his neck when he did it. Rojas had taken the field in a Dodger-blue Van Cleef necklace, a trendy brand for dudes and women alike with money to burn.
A chain has long more or less been an unofficial part of a baseball player’s uniform. Most guys take the field wearing at least one and it’s a traditions stretching decades back in the sport. Deion Sanders, Prime Time himself — one of the best-dressed athletes we’ve ever seen — was hardly ever seen without a chain under his Braves uniform and that swagger-forward dressing sensibility has influenced countless generations of players in the time since. Baseball is that rare sport in which players are allowed to wear jewellery while on the field and in a game that largely prohibits personal expression (there’s a designated weekend every season in which they’re allowed to wear colourful cleats and play with painted bats–insane given that this would be a daily occurrence in any other sport) jewellery has become a go-to for guys looking to add a personal spin to a fairly conservative uniform.
Football players are also permitted to wear jewellery out on the field, though admittedly they tend to aim to be a bit more conservative in doing so. It’s a lot easier for a chain to interfere with a play in that sport than it is in baseball, and nobody wants a Van Cleef getting snapped during a tackle. Still, guys like Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley aren’t opposed to wearing chains, pearls, or beaded necklaces while running the gridiron.
For other athletes, jewellery has become a staple of their off-court/field/track uniform. You’re liable to see any number of dripped-out chains and rings during a Toronto Raptors tunnel walk, and Formula One drivers also often boast stacks of killer pieces. F1 legend and SHARP alum Lewis Hamilton is often at the vanguard of this, even challenging the sport’s governing body to rethink its rules on jewellery being allowed during competition. But even when he’s not behind the wheel of a Ferrari you can spot him in everything from quirky beaded necklaces to pearl threads. What else would you expect from the best-dressed driver in the world?
There’s something undeniably appealing about an athlete in jewellery. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the masculine and perceived feminine, the idea of wearing something beautiful while taking part in something so pointedly aggressive. Or maybe it’s just that a gold chain looks cool as hell bouncing around the neck of someone who’s just sent a baseball into orbit.
FEATURE PHOTO: LEWIS HAMILTON OF GREAT BRITAIN AND SCUDERIA FERRARI. PHOTO BY HECTOR VIVAS/GETTY IMAGES.
