Men are prohibited to wear anything that is made of gold, and this prohibition extends to watches, rings and so on. Wearing silver ornaments—including watches—can be used instead of gold.
Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Muslim scholar and lecturer, states the following: Essentially, wearing gold is prohibited for men. `Abdullah ibn `Abbas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw a gold ring on a man’s hand. He took it off and threw it aside, saying: “Would any of you take a burning coal and hold it in his hand?” When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had gone away, someone said to the man, “Take your ring and make use of it (i.e., sell it.)” He said: No, by Allah, I will not take it after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has thrown it away.” (Muslim)
`Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al-`Aas reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If anyone from my ummah wears gold and dies wearing it, Allah will deny him the gold ofParadise. If anyone from my ummah wears silk and dies wearing it, Allah will deny him the silk of Paradise.” (Imam Ahmad)
This prohibition applies to men only, not to women, as `Ali, (may Allah be pleased with him), reported that the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took a piece of silk in his right hand and a piece of gold in his left, and said: “These are forbidden for the males of my ummah.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said: “Wearing silk and gold is permitted for the women of my ummah and prohibited for the males.”
Gold is permitted for women because of their delicate and gentle nature, and their inclination to like adornment. Allah says: “Do they then like for Allah a creature who is brought up in adornments (wearing gold and silk ornaments, i.e., women) and in dispute cannot make herself clear.” (Az-Zukhruf 43: 18)
As for men, it is a sign of instability and an un-masculine nature to adorn oneself with gold. Islam wants the differences between the sexes to be clearly defined, and their distinctive characteristics to stand out, because when they resemble each another, a great deal of corruption results there from.
The prohibition of gold for men includes pure gold, gold alloys, cut pieces, joined pieces, gold inlay, etc.