Its iPhone app lets users schedule tech-free time
From across the pond comes a stylish new wearables collection that marries edgy aesthetics with app-based notifier technology.
The Altruis collection of smart jewelry, developed by British company Kovert, is built around a basic notifier device, but its well-designed app also allows users to create different profiles that filter alerts for holidays, evenings, and other times one would want to be tech-free. The app is currently available only for iPhone.
Courtesy Kovert
A bracelet and necklaces from the Altruis collection
The collection includes pendant necklaces, rings, and bracelets in sterling and gold-plated silver—all incorporating the so-called Altruis stone, a faceted zirconia ceramic rectangular gem that hides an electronic circuit board housing a rechargeable battery, Bluetooth connectivity, a vibration motor, and sensors. The company claims the battery, which is charged using a USB cable, lasts two to three weeks at a time.
The collection’s aesthetics are refreshingly stylish and subtle and recall the chic Ringly design. Sophie Charara at Wareable.com wrote that “the ring itself is flawlessly designed—the sterling silver band is wider and sturdier than some, to balance the weight, but is on a par with costume rings with big stones.”
But prices for the collection—from $300 to $590—feel steeper than they should be, considering Ringly’s base price of $195 and the fact that all of its gold pieces are plated.
Courtesy Kovert
A trio of Altruis rings
Kovert is marketing the Altruis collection as a way to escape your phone when you need to, a tack wearable developers are increasingly cleaving to as consumers continue to wonder whether they need to wear their devices. That consumers are actually able to turn off their phones when they don’t want to be bothered by them seems to be considered an insignificant detail in these marketing efforts.
Still, the sell could be very seductive for stressed-out women who want to get in on the wearables trend: “Leading a slower, more minimal life can be extremely liberating and inspiring,” reads the Altruis website. “By refining our possessions, habits, and routines, removing anything that doesn’t add value to ourselves or others, we create space for things that do add value. Time is our greatest luxury in modern life. Technology is our greatest resource. Let’s use them wisely.”
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