If I were asked to design a bathroom (or any other room involving brassware: taps, traps, towel rails, etc.) I would not dream of mixing my metals. You don’t want brass? Okay, well then nickel or chrome, perhaps? Certainly not the two together!

There are some aspects of interior design that are non-negotiable. Good grief, I can’t sleep in a room where the hinges don’t match the door handles!

The same rule applies to personal presentation.

I am not just referring to jewellery: this is a multi-layered problem.

Here is something that makes me very happy: the buckles on my Fiorentini & Baker boots match the clasp (and other metal parts) of my Mulberry handbag:

I regard these as outer wrapping: I am not so pernickety that I would never wear white metal jewellery as part of this outfit. But as a rule I try to match my shoe metal to my bag, and similarly any jewellery I wear always comes from one metal family only.

My current favourite day wear includes a combination of white-coloured metal in the form of a steel watch and Hermes chaine d’ancre silver bracelet worn on the same wrist:

Between you and me, the Rolex is actually a bit of a fantasy (hint to Editor) and I am pretty happy with the Sekonda that is currently standing in for the part of lead watch:

I hope the point is clear. No gold rings, necklaces or earrings worn as part of this ensemble.

Non-negotiable.