LA-based jeweller Irene Neuwirth came to fine jewellery by way of an environmental studies degree and a stint teaching horseback riding. She really only got into it because her father told her she ought to get a real job. So it’s little surprise her pieces – candy-like strings of pink opals, gumball rings and starbursts of tropical flowers studded with precious gems – defy categorisation.

She launched her brand in 2003 after friends and associates became desperate to get their hands on the beaded bracelets she had started making at university, and then hit the big time when star stylist Karla Welch commissioned her to create a 146-carat ruby tiara with matching drop earrings for Oscar nominee Ruth Negga to wear to the 2017 Academy Awards.