Since the days of yore, wearing a ring on your little finger has signalled your status as The Man. Five-thousand-and-something-years later, it still tracks |
Wait! Don't call the cops. Your regular HOT WASH host Murray is off sunning himself in Cornwall and has left me in charge. He'll be back next week, but in the meantime we've got £20 for a pizza and no bedtime. Let's go.
There's plenty of sexed-up jewellery for men. A silver diving watch has been the symbol of dangerous cool since before James Bond was dropping villains into gas stacks. The innocent thin necklace was rebranded into the "slutty little chain" after Paul Mescal had his way with it in Normal People. Blame him for the fact we saw it on every man in every east London pub for the following five years. The single earring, despite being co-opted by men performatively reading The Bell Jar in concept-store cafés, has had its hot and heavy moments, too.
Those bits of jewellery are sexy. Horny, even! They've got their own little Instagram pages and moodboard leading roles. They help secure Hinge dates like they are supposed to. But still, they don't compare to the original, hottest piece of jewellery a man can wear: the pinkie ring.
Pinkie rings have been hot since the beginning, you understand. The earliest were worn in 3,500 BCE, meaning they predate stuff like wheels and living beyond 30. And I say hot because using the word cool seems reductive. Pinkie rings were originally function, not fashion. Worn by kings and pharaohs and businessmen, signet rings used to be used to signal - no way?! - authority and maturity. It meant you were a man. No, it meant you were The Man. It was used to stamp the wax of a scroll, sent via carrier pigeon to tell some dirt poor 15-year-old father-of-six to kill himself with a trebuchet.
Mona Jensen, creative director of Tom Wood, a Norwegian jeweller who fits plenty of pinkie rings on plenty of well-dressed men, puts it a little better. "The history of the pinkie ring as a functional signet ring to authenticate official documents makes the story good. And a product with a good story is easier to like, right?" Right! Even though our logical brains know there's no functional point to the pinkie ring any more, our animal brains still love it.
Stylist Michael Fisher, who fits out the likes of Sebastian Stan and Jake Gyllenhaal, notes that the subtlety makes them even hotter. They're "meaningful and not too overpowering" and "suggest a certain type of gentleman" (you!). That meaningfulness can be amped up, too, if that floats your boat. "Besides family crests, signet rings are great to personalise with initials or a birthstone," says Fisher. "It's a very considered look that doesn't confirm marital status like a ring finger would. I also think they get noticed because of their proximity to the buttons along the sleeve hem of a sport coat. The eye travels from those buttons down to the pinkie."
Just look at the horde of young Hollywood hotties who have made the pinkie ring, and all its deviations, their own. Jacob Elordi, who is approximately 9ft tall and only wears Bottega Veneta, has a gold and emerald bruiser, which says he's fancy but is being very nice about it. Paul Mescal graduated from the chain to a dainty Cartier band, just as romantic as he. Harris Dickinson's is barely visible to the naked eye, while A$AP Rocky and Lewis Hamilton prefer a little sparkle on theirs via big-ass diamonds and/or gemstones (the isolation on the little finger softens the glare). Then there is the big, bold version, favoured by Italian men in suits on The Sopranos, or the engraved crest version, favoured by Italian men in suits not on The Sopranos.
Getting a pinkie ring yourself depends, as Jensen says: "on who you are and what you like." A plain or crest-engraved signet adds presence to your garden variety tee-and-jeans. Anything with more sparkle draws the eye and remains "noticeable at most handshakes" says Fisher. Go dainty? Feel subtle and elegant. Go heavy? The power is in your fingertips. Tom Wood offers rings that play both ends of the field. On the heavier side, coin designs and multi-stone kaleidoscopes; on the daintier end, thin bands and plain faces bezel-set with stones like tiger eye or onyx.
Ultimately, it's all about tension. Your sole piece of jewellery living on the smallest square space of real estate on the body is purposeful, poetic. It adds polish to your fancy fits and soups up the not-so-fancy. More importantly, it communicates - instinctively, like a prehistoric survival reflex - that the wearer knows exactly what he's doing. What could be hotter than that?
Big style reads of the week
How to buy the rarest bag on earth
The big GQ guide to autumn/winter 2025 menswear trends
How Kiko Kostadinov won fashion in 2025
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Before the Speedcat became everyone's favourite sneaker, it was originally designed as a fireproof racing shoe worn by actual racing drivers. And while it's now known more as an everyday trainer, the upcoming Wish x Puma Speedcat 447 GT goes back to its vroom-vroom roots. Made in collaboration with the Atlanta streetwear boutique, they're inspired by a very nice pair of Italian driving gloves; the kind you'd wear while cruising around Lake Como in a cherry red Ferrari or darting down the Amalfi Coast in a vintage Alfa Romeo circa 1978. - Adam Cheung, style writer |
Before the Speedcat became everyone's favourite sneaker, it was originally designed as a fireproof racing shoe worn by actual racing drivers. And while it's now known more as an everyday trainer, the upcoming Wish x Puma Speedcat 447 GT goes back to its vroom-vroom roots. Made in collaboration with the Atlanta streetwear boutique, they're inspired by a very nice pair of Italian driving gloves; the kind you'd wear while cruising around Lake Como in a cherry red Ferrari or darting down the Amalfi Coast in a vintage Alfa Romeo circa 1978. - Adam Cheung, style writer |
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"Antonin Tron has just been appointed creative director of Balmain, which means the opportunity to buy sexy, drapey menswear just quadrupled." |
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"Antonin Tron has just been appointed creative director of Balmain, which means the opportunity to buy sexy, drapey menswear just quadrupled." |
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Office-sourced hits from GQ HQ |
"Cult designer Kiko Kostadinov already won fashion in 2025. But now he's won something way more difficult and even more valuable: a place in my wardrobe which already has 20 black blazers in it. This one from his Levi's collab is too good to let go."
Mahalia Chang, style editor |
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