Annoushka was founded by Annoushka Ducas in 2009. The founder and creative director of her eponymous jewellery brand, Annoushka grew up in London, later studying French language and civilization at the Sorbonne. From Paris, she moved to Hong Kong in the late Eighties and began to work with local artisans, designing jewellery for herself and her friends and family. Three decades on, she continues this passion and exploration with Annoushka. Inspired by her extensive travels, and fuelled by a collector’s passion for the exotic and unique, Annoushka is the culmination of a lifetime’s obsession with the timeless romance and sensual magic of jewels. “My design philosophy is very personal,” Annoushka explains. “I create what I like to wear. It must be comfortable, versatile, unfussy, yet also tell a story. I love colour and my jewellery reflects this.” Travelling the world to discover extraordinary stones and inspirational production techniques, her designs exude an irreverent sense of fun juxtaposed with a timeless elegance. The Duchess of Cambridge, for example, frequently wears her Annoushka Baroque Pearl Earring Drops to complete her ‘classic contemporary’ daytime wardrobe, and Rihanna and Gwyneth Paltrow are loyal supporters of Annoushka’s layered style. Annoushka is an intuitive designer; she has an instinctive sense of the role she hopes each jewel will play in the lives of their owners. Her superior flair for interpreting colour, her ability to render texture, illuminate colour, lend movement and mood to jewellery is the result of spending 25 years working alongside master craftsmen plying age-old and innovative techniques at the jewellery bench. She works closely with her design team to ensure that superlative craftsmanship and a spirit of modernity defines every piece she conceives.

“Everything is made to be cherished and handed down,” says Annoushka. “The aim is to create collections that sit happily alongside heirloom jewels but which are fresh and contemporary. My work encourages experimentation.” Annoushka’s work has been widely recognised and rewarded with various awards and accolades; amongst others she has won several prestigious jewellery industry awards, including Jewellery Designer of the Year, Gift Designer of the Year, Brand of the Year (twice), and she was short-listed for the Veuve Cliquot Businesswoman of the Year. In 2012 Annoushka was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to the industry. Annoushka has taken an active role in searching out and nurturing young creative talent, instigating and overseeing a very successful annual jewellery design project with students at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design. She has equally always endeavoured to highlight and champion inspirational women across a variety of fields through her series of Inspirational Women’s events:  celebrating entrepreneurs, campaigners, writers, artists, business women, politicians, sportswomen who are using their talent to make a difference.