Met Gala 2026 Men's Jewelry: From Brooches to Cufflinks

This year's Met Gala landed on May 4, under the theme "Costume Art" and the dress code "Fashion Is Art." Coverage of the night's best jewelry gave menswear something it rarely gets on that carpet: real attention.

Colman Domingo stacked Boucheron gold rings with a matching stud, brooch, cuff, and bracelet. Adrien Brody pinned a winged diamond brooch to his lapel. Connor Storrie went further: two brooches, diamond huggie earrings, a ring, and an Omega watch, all working as one jewelry story instead of separate pieces. Wisdom Kaye kept it simple: one brooch on the lapel, nothing else competing for attention.

More of the same showed up across the carpet.

Detailed jewelry coverage noted A$AP Rocky in a pink sapphire Chanel brooch, stacked with pieces from his own jewelry line. Dwayne Johnson wore a single emerald-and-diamond brooch on his tux, nothing else competing for attention. Nicholas Hoult chose one sculptural brooch over a full set too, treating it as the single focal point of an otherwise minimal look.

Troye Sivan skipped the brooch route entirely and let a pair of blue-and-green cufflinks do the work instead.

None of it needs a red carpet budget. Here's what actually translates.

The Brooch Isn't Optional Anymore

Several guys built their whole look around one brooch instead of a full set. That's the real shift. A brooch used to be a rare flourish. Now it's doing the job a statement necklace does for a woman: one piece, all the focus.

The brooch and lapel pin collection works the same way. Pick one piece. Let everything else stay quiet.

Rings, Stacked and Matched

Domingo didn't wear one big ring. He wore several, all gold, all working together. That's the part worth stealing. Layered rings in one metal tone scale down easily, from red carpet to office desk.

The fashion jewelry collection has ring styles built for that kind of stacking. The personalized jewelry collection adds engraved and birthstone rings if you want the stack to mean something, not just look good.

Two or three rings on one hand reads intentional. Five across both hands starts to look like a costume, even at a gala built for costume as art. Start with one ring you actually love, then build the stack slowly instead of buying five at once.

Cufflinks Still Do the Quiet Work

Brooches and rings pulled focus this year, but cufflinks held everything together underneath. They don't ask for attention. That's exactly why they never leave rotation, even at an event built on maximalism. Sivan proved the point best: skip the brooch entirely, let one strong cufflink carry the whole look.

The luxury cufflinks collection covers the crystal, enamel, and stone finishes closest to what showed up on the carpet. Want it quieter still? The classic cufflinks and studs collection keeps the polish without the volume.

Your Watch Is Jewelry Too

Storrie treated his Omega watch as part of the jewelry story, not a separate category. That's the shift. Your watch is already doing jewelry work. Start choosing pieces around it instead of ignoring it.

If gold is your base metal, keep your cufflinks, tie bar, and rings in that same tone. The cufflinks collection has enough range that matching a gold watch is easy.

Where You'd Actually Wear This

You don't need a gala to use any of it.

A wedding calls for the brooch-instead-of-boutonniere move. A work gala calls for the matched-metal cufflink and ring combo. A date night calls for one bold cufflink, nothing else, the way Sivan did it. A holiday party can handle a bit more: a brooch and a tie bar in the same metal, still restrained enough for the room.

Pick the occasion first. Then pick the piece that fits it, not the other way around.

Building a Capsule, Not Copying a Look

Don't try to recreate a full red carpet moment. Pick one lane and build depth there instead.

Start with a brooch and a matched cufflink set in the same metal. Add a ring stack once the rest of the wardrobe can support it. That's closer to what actually worked on this year's carpet: one strong idea, done well, instead of five accessories competing for the same eye.

What Not to Copy

Some of the night's biggest looks were built for a stage, not a Tuesday. Piling on five jewelry categories at once works when you've got a stylist and a spotlight. It doesn't work at a wedding or the office.

Take the idea, not the volume. One brooch. One ring stack. One matched cufflink set. Pick a lane and stay in it.

How to Wear This Without the Budget

A few rules, straight from the carpet to your closet.

Pick one hero piece. A brooch or a ring stack, not both. The best looks this year committed to one focal point.

Stay in one metal family. Domingo's whole outfit worked because every piece matched. Mixed metals read as accidental.

Let the brooch replace something. Wearing a lapel brooch means skipping the pocket square or the tie bar. One statement per zone.

Tie bars still matter off the carpet. For everyday formalwear, a classic tie clip or novelty tie clip finishes a tie the same way a brooch finishes a lapel.

Buy for the occasion you'll actually repeat. A red carpet piece is worn once. A cufflink set or tie bar in your rotation gets worn dozens of times a year, so the investment makes more sense there.

The Bigger Shift

Men's formalwear treated jewelry as an afterthought for decades.

This year's carpet made the opposite case. Menswear coverage going into the event predicted jewelry would carry this year's art-forward theme, and the carpet backed it up. Brooches, rings, and matched metals told more of the story than the suits underneath.

That shift isn't staying on a red carpet. It's already showing up at weddings, galas, and any formal night where a man wants his outfit to say more than "I own a suit."

HawsonVIP has the pieces to bring that same intent into a wardrobe that never has to walk the Met steps to make the point. Start with one piece. Let the rest follow.