The wonderful thing about jewellery is that unless it's a ring (in which case it can be altered) you don't have to worry about whether it fits and no matter how fat a day you're having it still lifts the spirits. Pin something glittery to a black coat or jacket and it'll do wonders for the complexion, add the right string of exotic beads, a big, bold cuff or one of this winter's fashionable pendants to a dress or shirt and it can add instant glamour.

Jewellery usually comes in neat little boxes, all the easier to wrap and to post. This Christmas there's also more choice than ever. The grand jewellers, in wonderfully contracyclical mode, have heart-stoppingly gorgeous rocks on display, but we all know that these days you don't have to spend big bucks to get a lot of decorative bang.

If, though, you're in the mood for some serious creative design allied to precious materials then there's nothing for it but a deeper dip into the purse.

Take two of the best designers that I know: Muriel Grateau and Otto Jakob. They're more than jewellers - they're brilliant artists and certainly in the case of the German jeweller, Jakob, most of his early work was actually collected by his nation's best-known contemporary artists (Markus Lüpertz and Günther Förg to name but two) who presumably didn't buy them to wear but just to gaze at.

Jakob's dealer in Hamburg, Hans Neuendorf, is an art dealer and that gives you some idea of the designer's standing in the pantheon of jewellers. He ranks up there with Schlumberger and Fabergé. His works aren't cheap but they are what you might call forever jewels - things of wonder to pass on down through the generations.

Prices start at about £5,000 and you can see some pieces at Colnaghi, 15 Old Bond Street, London W1 (you can get some idea of his work at ottojakob.com and you can also buy through artnet.com).

Then there's Muriel Grateau, whose small boutique at 37, Rue de Beaune, in Paris, is a place of pilgrimage for many in the design world (she sells impeccably beautiful linens, ceramics and other home accessories).

She started designing jewellery a few years ago (her first designs were shown on my page) exploring black jet and onyx, but now she has a new and very beautiful collection of clear rock crystal. Browns (www.brownsfashion.com) has a good selection of her pieces. Her clear crystal rings are about £7,000, but you could get ear-rings for about £4,000 and a braceletfor £1,750. These are all serious pieces sought after by collectors.

Rings have been getting bigger and bigger and they don't come more sockingly intriguing than the wonderfully distinctive Fantasie collection designed by the Chinese jeweller Wendy Yue in conjunction with Annoushka Ducas, one of the founders of Links of London (now sold to the owners of Folli Follie).

If you're following The X Factor on television you can check them out on Dannii Minogue's finger most Saturday nights. Each ring is different and they're made from a combination of black rhodium-plated 18-carat gold, pink jasper and diamonds galore. They're on sale at Liberty, Harrods (fine jewellery room) and Harvey Nichols in London and Manchester. Prices start at £2,500.

But if all these prices are more than you have in mind, there's a host of small companies now selling online.

One of the best is astleyclarke.com. There are some gorgeous amethyst and moonstone drop earrings by Asha by ADM for £350, or in amethyst and lemon quartz for £250.

Monica Vinader is a big name these days. She specialises in huge rings and bracelets in a variety of semi-precious stones. Astley Clarke has a gorgeous pale-blue Lucy ring with chalcedony in gold vermeil for £125 while the koodos.com site has lots of her single-stone rings reduced from £75 to £38.

For wearable jewellery - pretty pearl earrings and bracelets at very reasonable prices - it's hard to beat Susannah Chenevix Jewellery. A simple bracelet of semi-precious stones is £38, pale-grey pearl earrings are £195, while a silver cuff could be had for £55. You can buy online at chenevixjewellery.co.uk

And finally two of my favourite jewellery stores - Manguette, 40 Gordon Place, London W8 (you can get a flavour of her wares at www.manguette.com) goes in for gobsmackingly gorgeous stones woven into great necklaces or bracelets, while Cobra & Bellamy of 149 Sloane Street, London SW1 is closing down (sob, sob) and will be selling online - cobrabellamy.co.uk - from January.

In the meantime it has some stonking reductions on its iconic coral, turquoise and amber pieces. Hurry, as they say, while stocks last.

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