The luxury smart jewellery market is projected to reach $430 million by 2030, driven by a rising demand from Millennials and Gen Z, who are embracing fitness as a core lifestyle choice. While mainstream tech players like Samsung and Honor have entered the smart-jewellery space, should the mainstream jewellery sector adopt smart-tech to capture a younger audience? Shilpa Dhamija explores
According to a Research and Markets report published in November 2024, the global luxury smart jewellery market is likely to register a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 18.7% from 2024 to 2030!
In 2023, the ‘fitness tracking’ feature dominated the smart-jewellery market with smart rings as the most popular product. In addition to fitness tracking, an increase in chronic diseases around the world has also necessitated health monitoring thus increasing the demand for smart jewellery, the report states.
After the success of smart ring maker Oura, a Finnish brand that was founded in 2013 and is now valued at $5 billion, mainstream consumer tech giants like Samsung, Honor, and boAt have entered the smart jewellery market with new product launches. Earlier this month, Oura received a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom. Oura claims to have sold 2.5 million rings so far. Its latest ring, Oura 4, is made in Titanium and is priced at $249.
This year, Samsung launched Galaxy Ring that offers health monitoring, tracking, and personalized insights 24×7, even when worn while sleeping. It weighs around 2.3 grams to 3.0 grams and has a concave design for a stylish look. The Galaxy ring is made with titanium in three shades – titanium, silver and gold and is priced around Rs.39,000.
Indian consumer tech brand boAt’s smart jewellery rings are however priced much lower at Rs.3,000 and are made in stainless steel. Honor, which is a consumer sub-brand of Huawei, a Chinese tech company also announced its plans to launch a smart-jewellery ring during the Mobile World Congress 2024.
While brands that are targeting a wider consumer base are using light weight and low-priced metals like titanium, some innovators are using precious metals to create smart-jewellery for discerning customers. French company Lumissoly has designed Souvenir Medallions – an NFC (near-field-communications) enabled photo-style locket that can store one’s memories, digitally. The silver medallion is plated in 18-karat yellow gold with a luminous 24-karat gold finish and is also available in rose-gold. The medallions are priced at about €699.
The medallion comes with an authentication card that is used to create an account on Lumissoly app. Once the account is created, the user can scan the jewel with the back of an NFC enabled phone to open the application and store the memories. Lumissoly is currently only available to order in select European countries.
InvisaWear, another smart-jewellery startup, has created a safety device in the form of smart jewellery – a beaded chain necklace with a pendant that can be double clicked to alert an emergency contact with the user’s GPS location.
In the US, leading telecom provider Verizon recently began offering the Ultrahuman smart ring to its customers, while AT&T secured an exclusive partnership to sell the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Reports suggest that North America dominates the smart jewelry market, driven by the strong presence of established players in the sector.
At IIJS Premiere held in August, Jewelex x Ultrahuman launched a beautiful ring made on the outer surface with gold and platinum with a PVD coating to monitor health. Claimed to be the world’s first luxury smart ring, it will track heart rate variability, stress levels, sleep index, blood oxygen levels, motion sensors, skin temperature, and more. With a battery life of up to 6 days, the ring will be available in 116 countries—a watch made and designed in India. Crafted by Jewelex’s master artisans, the ring will be available in three stunning variants: yellow gold, rose gold and platinum.
As one of the top two markets for precious jewellery and the top three markets for consumer technology, India is uniquely positioned for the convergence of these two industries. A jeweller who capitalizes on this growing demand could potentially gain a first-mover advantage in this emerging market.