Jewellery designer and DJ Jenny Huston has a celebrity following that includes Charlize Theron, Louis Partridge, and Aisling Bea.
Rocking a jewel box-sized two-up, two-down terrace house, she has used a music format as decoration in her home that doubles as a music library and muse for her brand, Edge Only.
Houston spent a decade as one of the big-name DJs on RTE’s 2FM music roster.
She has stood in fields at music festivals all over the country, and as music evolved from an aural experience to an audiovisual event, she began to rethink her life and her appearance.
And it was at Electric Picnic that the seeds were sewn for a pivot to a new career.
“Our coverage at Electric Picnic had become an in-vision thing, and small, delicate jewellery didn’t show up on screen.
"It was too conservative, too delicate to wear in a field, so I started buying big costume pieces," she recalls, adding that she felt guilty when the base started wearing off.
18-ct gold vermeil Rugged ring, €349 and 14-ct gold Rooftop ring, €1,800
It got her thinking about statement fine jewellery that mixed the scale and textures of costume with the longevity of precious metals.
“I wanted to design pieces that a rock star or a TV presenter might wear, precious metal jewellery that made more of a statement,” she says, describing it as the adornment equivalent of a leather jacket, or a dress with chunky boots.
“It’s a bit more tomboy,” she explains.
She was able to buy her house while still in a job at RTE and took a voluntary redundancy package about a decade ago.
Afterwards, she took time out to travel and, while circumnavigating the globe, decided to become a jewellery designer.
Which may sound a bit random until she explains her backstory.
In the rarified world of fine jewellery, her mother is a bit of a legend.
She worked in London with Andrew Grima, while he was still at his father-in-law’s firm, HJ Company, before he went out on his own. He is considered the father of modern jewellery.
During this time, the goldsmith and gemmologist, known as Jane Porter, won the DeBeers Diamond International Award, the first woman to do so.
In a way, Jenny has followed in her mother’s footsteps. She took her new Edge Only collection to London, and the first shop she showed it to, Wolf & Badger, took her on straight away.
It’s become a stylist’s favourite, which is how her thunderbolt earrings graced the ear lobes of Charlize Theron in a cameo appearance as Stormfront in season three of The Boys, a satirical take on superhero films.
American TV personality Michelle Visage and Irish comedian Aisling Bea are also fans.
Men also love the chunky nature of the pieces. Actor Louis Partridge, currently starring as Edward Guinness in Steven Knight's new historical drama House of Guinness; Conor Swindles, best known for his role in streaming series Sex Education and comedian Iain Sterling, have all sported the brand.
Her home is a two-up, two-down terraced redbrick. Jewel-box-sized, she created a feeling of space by opening up the ground floor, opting for soft edges, white walls and furniture with legs to bring light right in.
The walls are adorned with art and music.
There are platinum discs from Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand on the walls, a way of saying thanks for the early national plays she gave the bands.
The shelves are filled with CDs, and there are paintings by various artists, Alice Fitzgerald, Jill & Gill and Bono’s niece Leah Hewson.
There are ceramics by Raymond Kingham, Klaus Hartmann, Peter Fulop and Ail & El.
She installed a wood-burning stove to warm up winter nights. Placed on a raised plinth, it is set into the chimney breast.
The dining table is vintage, sourced from The Vintage Furniture Warehouse in Kilkenny.
She’s hoping to upgrade the B&Q kitchen next year.
While she has a lot of favourite artists, too many to choose, on the Irish front, she’s been listening to Half Known Things by HousePlants, Euro-Country by CMAT, Altar by NewDad and Romance by Fontaines D.C, its neon pink vinyl limited edition has pride of place on her turntable.
She admits to owning about 7,000 compact discs. “I wanted a wall of CDs that felt like art,” she explains.
In the guest bedroom, two of its four walls are thus shelved. The space doubles as her music library. Overnight guests say it’s like sleeping on a ship, she says.
Jenny still DJs and hosts a morning show, Monday to Friday, U2 X-Radio, a subscription-based service Sirus. Geo-located, it is not available in Europe.
Made with 100 per cent recycled gold and sterling silver, Edge Only is designed and ethically made in Ireland and individually hallmarked at Dublin Castle.
