Jewellery first, technology second. That’s the idea behind
Purple, a wearable tech project by Artefact Group that’s succeeded where many, many others have
failed: making products that are actually beautiful. Their necklaces are a
modern day take on the locket, and house digital connections to loved ones
where we would have once kept a tiny heirloom or photograph.
It connects wirelessly – seamlessly – to your social
platforms and SMS messages, but only with the people that you select. So it
will only connect you to your best friends, your immediate family, your partner
– never a dud message from someone trying to get hold of your credit card
details, or an acquaintance you have nothing in common with anymore.
You can manage your messages (called ‘Keepsakes’ when you’re
using a Purple locket) and settings on an accompanying app, that also lets you
send messages or add filters, graphics and effects to your photos before you
send them.
The lockets cut through all the noise – the constant
distraction of a phone lighting up or new emails clogging our inbox – and make
it a more curated, personal experience by only including the people you’re
closest to in real life.
When a new keepsake comes through, the only notification is
a subtle light, only noticeable from the wearer’s point of view, so the whole
experience is much more peaceful than constantly checking your phone.
But despite holding so much technology, Purple goes “beyond
the bling and the ping” when it comes to the actual design of their necklaces.
Their lockets have a gracefully curved lid and hang suspended from a delicate
chain in a choice of silver, gold or matte black. It’s been designed to look like an heirloom piece of jewellery
itself that, like a more traditional locket, you would want to pass on someday.
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