Through the ages, jewels have conveyed their wearer’s power and prestige, social status and beliefs to the world.
Now a start-up in Paris has produced a twist on that idea: jewelry that uses color to communicate with its wearer.
The Spktrl Light ring, introduced in an iOS version last month, is embedded with a miniaturized circuit board that, once connected through an app, registers the arrival of texts, emails or other digital communications. Depending on the app’s settings, it then triggers lights in significant colors to shine through the 1.5-carat lab-grown emerald-cut diamond set horizontally in its white gold bezel.
For example, the gem could be set to turn sapphire blue for messages from loved ones or emerald green for work-related missives. It also could be programmed for gradient hues or to pulse if a message is urgent.
Katia de Lasteyrie, the founder of Spktrl, said the ring took two years to develop and was designed as “a tool of empowerment.”
“All wearables actually look like technology,” she noted. “I wanted to invert that paradigm with something design-led that would make technology invisible, so nothing shows unless you want it to be seen.”
The limited-edition signet, priced at 2,500 euros to 3,500 euros ($2,910 to $4,070), will be produced in France in three versions: silvertone titanium with a mirror-polish surface, silvertone titanium with a brushed finish; and sandblasted titanium with a rose-goldlike finish. The company website is to begin taking orders in late September, with delivery expected in mid-2026.
Maxim de Turckheim, a luxury goods consultant in London, said that the piece looked original enough to find a place in the tech-jewelry market.
“Jewelry customers are increasingly adopting tech accessories they perceive as life-enhancing, but appearance is a recurring concern,” Mr. de Turckheim wrote in an email. “This presents a compelling alternative: aesthetic integrity is central, so people can wear their wellness tech openly.
“Just as lab-growns did not diminish demand for natural stones, I don’t expect Spktrl to replace traditional jewelry,” he added. “So long as it doesn’t try to encroach on jewelry, it might just open up a new category.”
It is not the first time Ms. de Lasteyrie, 44, has experimented with integrating lab-grown diamonds into a luxury product. In 2022, as the head of innovation projects at LVMH Watches & Jewelry, she helped bring lab-grown diamonds to a limited-edition watch by TAG Heuer. The experience, she said, left her convinced of their potential.
“This is a jewel for this moment,” she said, “when we are rethinking how we spend our time, what the purpose and scope of luxury is, and whether it gives us more presence and agency in life.”
Depending on demand, Ms. de Lasteyrie said, an Android version of the app may be offered in about nine months. And the business is working on new products, using watchmaking materials such as ceramic, carbon fiber and steel, and experimenting with lab-grown diamonds.
They are “the medium of the future, not just in terms of ornamentation but with respect to information-oriented applications and quantum computing,” Ms. de Lasteyrie said.
“The direction is already there. Personally, I am in awe of the human genius behind the technology, but the bigger reality is that we are entering the diamond age.”
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