I once dated a guy who wore a shell bracelet he’d picked up on his gap year (obviously) while backpacking around Bali. Its pretentiousness annoyed me almost as much as his ability to solely talk about himself. But, fast-forward a couple of years, and I’m now regretting that I didn’t steal said shell bracelet from his arm: not as a souvenir of our soujorn, but to wear myself.

Why? Because sea shell jewellery is big for summer 2018. Really big. And, while I tried to resist the trend, my jewellery box is now a mismatch of conchs, cockles and cowrie.

The trend was first spotted on the Prada autumn winter 2017, where Ms. Prada layered strings of whelk and tulip shell necklaces over beaded twin-sets and high-necked evening dresses. Then, for spring summer 2018, Rosie Assoulin attached cameo portraits to tiny cockles, creating some seriously unique earrings in the process. Things snowballed from that point onwards: Loewe showed mother-of-pearl shell pendants, Roksanda a single cockle shell hanging on a chain, and Dolce & Gabbana showcased maximalist gold shell earrings.

From conch shell necklaces to cowrie shell earrings, here is our pick of the best shell jewellery