Men’s jewellery: Dare we brooch the topic?

SPOTLIGHT / Pin interest

John Krasinski, Taika Waititi, Rami Malek and Cillian Murphy all sporting a brooch on the red carpet. The free-standing brooch (top centre), called Cheeky Dog, belongs to ABC journalist Dan Bourchier and was made by artist Dion Beasley.

Time was when the only jewellery it was acceptable for a man to wear was a watch and, at a stretch, a wedding ring. As jewellery’s gender borders continue to dissolve, I can’t help but wonder what my dear, old, only-ever-wore-a-Seiko-watch dad would think of the latest trend in male adornment ­– the brooch.

Boys ‘n’ brooches first made news at the 2019 Met Gala, when Rami Malek turned heads in a sublime Panthère de Cartier piece, and continued at the 2020 Academy Awards where Timothée Chalamet, Taika Waititi and Antonio Banderas were all extravagantly pinned. More recently, a slew of A-listers has been gussying up their lapels: at this year’s Oscars, Michael B. Jordan, Mark Ruffalo, John Krasinski and Cillian Murphy were among those sporting gazillions of dollars worth of rocks by the likes of Cartier, De Beers, Tiffany & Co and Chaumet. Closer to home, ABC journalist Dan Bourchier doesn’t mind a little lapel love, taking to X to reveal the origins of a brooch he wears on air (“Cheeky Dog”, pictured above, centre, by Dion Beasley, an Alywarr man and artist from the Northern Territory).

One man who’s been particularly influential in the pin-o-sphere is Frank Everett, Sotheby’s US vice-chairman of jewellery, who began the #bringbackthebrooch movement and regularly sports pieces from the company’s vault. He told Robb Report that there’s no turning back from the trend of men wearing non-trad jewellery, adding, “There’s so much gender-bending now … People should just wear what they love.” Deborah Cooke

READ / The arc of justice

Steve Johnson’s story of the decades-long crusade to find how his beloved brother Scott died.

Steve and Scott Johnson were as close as two brothers could be, their relationship forged by a nomadic childhood on the wrong side of the tracks in 1970s LA.

A shared love of mountain-climbing and genius for mathematics as well as emotional openness – Scott confided to his older brother that he was gay – kept the siblings tight after Scott moved to Australia in 1986 to be with his boyfriend. So when Scott’s body was found at the bottom of Sydney’s North Head in December 1988, Steve was devastated. When police informed him that his brother had taken his own life – a theory they stuck to for 30 years – he refused to believe them. Steve’s grief became a catalyst for his decades-long crusade to find out the truth. A Thousand Miles from Care (Harper Collins; $35) brims with unputdownable detail and fine writing. Greg Callaghan

LISTEN / Control shift

While documenting the lives of four people for her podcast, Jess Shane encounters unexpected complications.

When she was a teenager, Jess Shane made an aural documentary about a friend who was giving up her dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast. The friend ended up hating the result, saying the process had misrepresented her and taken away her power. Years later, Shane is a successful podcaster who decides to make amends by creating Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative, a podcast following four people going through big shifts in their lives. She pays them for their time and asks them to help shape their own stories. But in allowing her subjects to take more control, she soon learns that things can get complicated and, in the case of a homeless woman trying to change her circumstances, threaten to scupper the show entirely and make Shane question her own ethics and motives. Barry Divola

WEAR / Walk the talk

Byfreer is recycling sneakers to make limited-edition footwear, including these “Synergy” mules.

Recycling textiles is tricky at the best of times, but especially so when it comes to footwear and its mixed materials. So it tickles to see a brand showing some ingenuity in the space. Peterson Stoop – founded by Dutchwoman Jelske Peterson and New Zealander Jarah Stoop – is creating limited-edition clogs and sandals (“Synergy” mules, $1075) that are made using what’s left over when you pull apart more than 500 used sneakers; each pair is one of a kind. Melissa Singer

DRINK / One stopper shop

Keeping fizz fresh: NON’s new stopper.

If good design happens at the intersection of form, function and fizz, then NON’s new stopper ($60) is an object lesson. The pleasing and practical bottle stopper is a collaboration between Aaron Trotman, the Melbourne-based founder of alcohol-free drinks brand NON, and Vert Industrial Design House, a Sydney studio that crafts products with sustainable intent. Made from stainless steel and silicone and giving space-age sleekness, the cap kept my bottle of NON’s Salted Raspberry and Chamomile bubbly for a good week. Works beautifully with other crown-sealed bottles and their sparkly (or not) drops, too. Dani Valent

PLAY / Drama kings

The NGV has partnered with the British Museum to present Pharaoh, featuring more than 500 ancient Egyptian artefacts.Credit: Sean Fennessy

Few gallery directors nail exhibition design as well as the National Gallery of Victoria’s Tony Ellwood, who has a knack for the “wow”. From the room of Chanel suits in the NGV’s 2021 show and the colourful wallpaper in last year’s Pierre Bonnard exhibition to a row of goddess Sekhmet sculptures in this year’s Pharaoh, the NGV displays regularly pack a punch, making accessible to a broad audience art that otherwise may not be. In the case of Pharaoh, which showcases more than 500 ancient Egyptian artefacts from the British Museum, the design (by Peter King) makes intricate jewellery every bit as thrilling as these majestic stone carvings. NGV International, tickets $16-$38, until October 6. Katrina Strickland

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