Diane Von Furstenberg has one. So does John Rocha. And Stella McCartney. In fact, fashion houses from Versace to Vera Wang all have one these days. Jewellery collections, that is. So what's the attraction?

Well, there's the financial side. At a time when couture clothing sales are declining, jewellery and accessory purchases are more than making up for it – and in many cases outstripping designer clothes sales altogether.

There's also the brand element. By venturing into new segments of the fashion industry – shoes, bags and jewellery – fashion houses are widening their market appeal and expanding brand awareness.

According to British fashion designer Amanda Wakeley though, launching her own fine jewellery collection had little to do with the above.

"I've always loved jewellery, buying it, wearing it, I even used to design bits of my own," she smiles. "So I thought why not take the 'special occasion' out of precious jewellery, have fun with the design and create pieces like a diamond necklace that women could wear every day with jeans and not just a long dress."

"Jewellery purchases used to be like the fur industry 25 years ago when women bought their classic mink coat, expecting it to last them 10-15 years. That's all changed now"

In fact, her approach to jewellery is almost exactly how she approached the fashion industry nearly 20 years ago. Working as a model in New York in the 1980s and dabbling in fashion design, when Wakeley returned to the UK in 1990 she decided to jump right in and set up her own studio in Chelsea.

Entirely self-taught, she started out making clothes for friends. Her business grew steadily from there until Diana, Princess of Wales, was introduced to her designs and 'everything snowballed', with Wakeley becoming synonymous with the princess's sleek, chic working wardrobe of the 1990s.

Since then, she's continued dressing celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Dita Von Teese and Jennifer Lopez, along with many more women. She shows at London Fashion Week, has won the British Fashion Award for Glamour three times, sells in department stores and retail stockists worldwide and has a thriving business in Russia, the Middle East, the US and Europe.

She also branched out and designed the uniform for 80,000 BT employees a few years ago, launched her bridal collection in 2005, a 'sexy' shoe collection earlier this year and now there's her fine jewellery.

Famous for her unique clothing collections that are always chic, sophisticated and feminine, Wakeley had a vision of what she wanted for her jewellery collection. "I wanted bold pieces," she says. "Proportion is incredibly important to what I do in clothing, so I wanted pieces that really make a statement."

"I thought 'Why not take the 'special occasion' out of precious jewellery, have fun with the design and create pieces like a diamond necklace that women can wear every day with jeans"

Empowering women was another priority for her. "My clothes are all about empowering women to feel great and with my jewellery I wanted to do the same. I wanted women to feel that, yes, they could spend money on themselves without feeling guilty or having to wait to receive a piece as a present on a special occasion from a boyfriend, partner or husband," she insists.

She also wanted her jewellery to be accessible, enabling women to treat themselves. To this end, she included pieces crafted in silver with large semi-precious stones such as rose quartz and smoke quartz that cost hundreds alongside the more expensive pieces made from gold and precious stones.

With her crystal clear vision intact, designing the jewellery actually came as a surprise to Wakeley. "With clothes, I'm moulding around the body, cutting fabrics to fall in the most beautiful, flattering and feminine ways. There's almost a life to a piece of clothing," she explains. "Designing jewellery was different. It is fixed, three-dimensional and I discovered that the life comes from the beauty of the stone. So getting the cut and shape of the stone right was a completely new discipline for me."

To get a better understanding, she travelled to Jaipur in India, visiting her stone cutting and stone setting factories where she found the delicate and intricate craftsmanship 'eye opening'. Returning home, it took six months of focused, 'sane' design time (in between fashion seasons) before she unveiled a collection she was 'really proud of'.

Her pieces sum up the changing world of jewellery – well crafted, with a strong sense of fashion. "The fashion industry is putting more fashion into jewellery and that's no bad thing," she admits. "Jewellery used to be like the fur industry 25 years ago, when women bought their classic mink coat and expected it to last them 10-15 years.

"In jewellery terms, you got your Lady Di engagement ring with a sapphire and diamonds and you wore it for the rest of your life. And that's charming. But these days taste evolves. And jewellery can't be so sacrosanct that it can't evolve too. Luxury contemporary jewellery now goes hand in hand with luxury dressing, and that changes every season."

Dressing princesses and Hollywood royalty for nearly two decades, Amanda Wakeley's existence seems a charmed one. But it hasn't been without its difficulties. In 1998, she split from her second husband and business partner Neil Gillon, which led to her business being sold. In 2000, it was acquired by International Clothing Designs Limited (ICD) before getting new backing in 2005, which has helped it gain new momentum, growing and expanding more rapidly than ever.

According to Wakeley, she couldn't be happier and wouldn't change a thing about her life to date, except 'maybe add another three hours to every day' which would be gobbled up by her business, high adrenaline sports holidays and working with Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, which she has done for the past ten years. But there's always plans for more.

"I think in fashion and life, you have to have a strong self-belief and a strong vision," she says. "And, with that, I'm constantly pushing on towards the next thing." With a stunning range of clothing, bridal wear, shoes and now fine jewellery, what possibly could be next?

Visit www.amandawakeley.com to see her fine jewellery collection and more.

By Barbara Walshe