Advice for the Saner Gender, or, How to Buy a Girl Jewelry

Maybe it's your mom, sister, girlfriend, good friend, or some chick you met on Match.com who you're pretty sure isn't a serial killer, but every guy has to go through one rite of passage once: buying a woman jewelry. Apparently, we women have men shaking in their boots about this task (and it's not even over the money, usually), because all my guy friends ask me about how to get women jewelry. N brought up the subject this weekend when I started making faces at a ridiculously large ring that Snoop Dogg would declare too blingy, and it got me thinking- is it really that horrible? I have two guy friends who have been asking for input for a couple weeks now on future purchases (that shall not be named, but their ladies were not polled), and I remember when A's fiance recruited me for the Ring Mission. Are we women really that hard to satisfy with jewelry?

Then, I thought back to the jewelry I'd gotten. In high school, I think one boy raided his grandmother's jewelry box and gave me horribly chunky, gaudy promise rings. I've seen friends tell me horror stories that match mine. W says that many gifts she's gotten are hits or misses. I know a lot of women that share the same thoughts on this. So, I figured I would ask around for advice, and here it is, with my thoughts added in. Consider this your jewelry buying guide for the women in your life.

W's advice is plain and simple: Ask her. Women love to talk about themselves. In fact, W has been spamming her boyfriend with what she wants for the last couple months so he knows. However, some women aren't so open, I've found, or feel awkward saying this is what I want. We feel guilty even asking for jewelry, or wanting jewelry. Some women are just coy. Luckily, my go to posse of guy friends were here to answer.

Some men also don't want to be as obvious as dragging the girl to the store and saying "here's your limit, what do you want?". P, after some worried questioning about this subject, says make some comments far, far before the gift is given (P, a guy, has an excellent track record. Never had something returned or not worn), and then gauge the reactions. Then, use this to formulate your plan and implement it much later, so it's still a surprise but you know what you like. But, again, some women might not be that open with their reactions. So I moved on to UVA and CO for dealing with more difficult women.

UVA and CO both told me that they look at what she wears and her style. I will vouch for these guys, or at least CO, who has great taste from what I have seen. CO advises you look at her clothes, or staple pieces she wears everyday, and try to match that. UVA agrees- are her favorite necklaces white or yellow gold? Big or dainty? He also advises that birthstones are often just as good- or better- than a lot more expensive stones.

My advice? Follow all these points, and if all else fails, ask her friends. They at least can find sneaky ways to find out which jewelry she likes better, how she feels about dangly earrings, etc. Use a valuable female friend of yours to help, also. We women can often read other women well- though her friends are safest to ask.

On behalf of womenkind, I'm sorry for being so difficult on this. In my opinion, yes, it's the thought that really counts, but if you're cutting corners or not noticing what we wear, then we get a little... well, insulted. I know that for me, it's like, "Am I not even worth noticing what I wear?". Hopefully I've given some guys some help on this arduous task. I'm also always available to help. Now, if you'll excuse me, CO has given me more rotten Favre news, so expect a nice long rant on that (And the Yankees ROCK, pal. ROCK) soon.

If you want your three cents thrown in, comment below, please! I'd love to especially hear from more women about what they want. Sadly, W was the only willing commenter on this.