We’ve covered several smart jewelry products meant to keep people, especially women, safe when out in the world, but one winning concept out of Canada is getting back to safety basics.

The design, called the Securelet, won the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business competition for the best business concept, and the team behind the bracelet—Reagan Nagel, Cassidee Smith, Kira Lagadin, Kelly Weber and Renae McArthur—will receive $100,000 in funding to make their design a reality.

Several companies, including Secure Couture, already have products that offer emergency features that will text and call contacts if you’re in trouble. I’ve always found these products nice in theory but lacking in reality; am I really going to call all of my friends, plus my parents five states away, plus the police, if I’m feeling unsafe while walking home? I am not. 

But the Securelet offers something that I might do: push a button to cause the bracelet to emit a high-pitched whistling sound. This is a basic feature that we haven’t seen on smart jewelry yet. It gave me flashbacks to the first week at university when all of the women in our dorm had to sit through a presentation from university security about staying safe on campus. The prize at the end for our troubles: a rape whistle, which we were meant to keep on our lanyards along with our keys and badges. I remember walking around campus at night with that whistle in my hand and feeling a little bit stronger. A bracelet with that same power—causing a moment of disorientation, enough to run to safety—would be a little shield in itself.

And if the whistle doesn’t work, another push of the button alerts campus police. I can see this being a more useful gift for university students. I hope the funding helps make it a reality.   

JCK