You pull a favourite chain out of the drawer for the first time in a month and it has gone dull, almost grey, while another piece you have worn every day still looks bright.

You pull a favourite chain out of the drawer for the first time in a month and it has gone dull, almost grey, while another piece you have worn every day still looks bright.

Stand at a jewellery counter and the words start to blur. Bangle, bracelet, cuff, all sitting in the same tray, all sliding onto the wrist, all apparently meaning something slightly different.

Open most jewellery boxes and you will find the same story: a handful of pieces worn constantly, and a tangle of others that come out once a year.

There is a moment, somewhere between your second and third earring, when a few separate studs start to look like one considered thing. The ear reads as a whole, balanced and a little personal, and people ask where you got it.

Look closely at the necklaces you reach for most days and there is a good chance the chain holding them together is a quiet workhorse you have never thought to name.

If your earlobes go red, itchy or sore within hours of putting earrings in, you learn to brace for it. Plenty of people quietly give up on earrings altogether, convinced their ears simply cannot cope, when often the real issue is the metal touching them.