However, it was not just noblemen who wore jewelry. European merchants during the period of the Renaissance, which were exclusively male, used signet rings as stamps to mark the goods transported overseas.

And pirates, who were hijacking the ships and stealing those merchants’ cargo, wore various earrings for different purposes. The pirates believed that the golden ring earrings possessed magical healing powers. Though, the earring also had a practical use and a symbolic meaning. Sailors inscribed their home port’s names inside the earrings, so their bodies were sent back to their families in case they died far away from home. As for the symbolism behind the sailors’ earrings, as legend says, the young sailors got their first earrings after they passed the equator for the first time.

Comments to article «Why Men Once Wore More Jewelry Than Women, but Not Anymore»