I don't like any of the Orpington pubs. I use the 5 Bells or the Liberal Club. And the Chelsfield is terrific for food.
I'm not a great believer in mens' jewellery. Historically it was only the very wealthy who could afford to wear jewellery, and it was worn with pretty much the exclusive purpose of showing off how rich they were. This was done for centuries when the poorest people could scarcely feed themselves and had virtually no rights - certainly no say in how their society was governed. It's no coincidence that even today the Queen is the girl with the biggest diamonds, most of which were looted from the countries they came from during the time of the British Empire. Working people had no use for jewellery, even until as recently as a couple of generations ago. Most of the millions of working class folk probably had nothing more than wedding rings passed down from from earlier generations if they were lucky. Granted times have moved on now and cheap, mass-produced bling (including counterfeit stuff from China) is affordable to many. But I've never seen the point of men decorating themselves with rings, gold chains and the like. It's a free country of course, and people who like that kind of thing can buy and wear as much as they want. But I don't wear jewellery myself, and I'm not impressed by what I see other people wearing. Perhaps it is sexist to say this but I don't mind so much seeing women wearing jewellery. But only in the same way I don't mind seeing women wearing attractive clothes or having a nice hairstyle. But even then it's possible to go too far. Princess Diana for instance never looked her best in my opinion wearing a fairy-princess ballgown and a tiara with hundreds of precious stones in it. And her engagement ring didn't really need a sapphire the size of a hazelnut stuck to it.
Jewelry has also been traditionally worn by (Sarf London) villains of the upper echelons. I don't know abahrt Norf London.
And it's popular with today's 'gangstas' and followers of gangsta culture of course. I've always thought lots of bling was a sign of insecurity, like any other obsession with appearance such as vain cosmetic surgery or wearing designer label clothes. If people want to do it, good luck to them. But those things have never been of interest to me.
