Wearables didn't exactly close out 2016 with a bang. According to an IDC report, the sector only grew 3.1 percent year-over-year in Q3 of 2016. While that statistic, along with reports of wearable companies' struggles (Fitbit recently laid off six percent of its workforce) may signal a problem for the sector, Warren Buffett is actually embracing wearables. The billionaire investor, who has been cautious about investing in the tech sector in the past, is diving into wearables with a new smart jewelry line produced by his company Berkshire Hathaway's jewelry subsidiary Richline Group.
The line, dubbed Ela, will debut this spring, starting with smart wristwear—but don't expect to see a smartwatch from the get-go. According to a report from ZDNet, Ela has been working on elegantly designed smart bracelets and plans to extend into other product categories, including rings and earrings, in the future. Ela devices will connect to both Android and iOS devices and share activity data with Apple's HealthKit and Google Fit, although the specific activity sensors that each device will have are unknown. Ela devices will also receive smartphone notifications, and the user can set gems on the device to glow in different colors and vibrate depending on the alert they're receiving.
Cliff Ulrich, product innovation manager for the Richline Group, told ZDNet that a goal was to create devices that are more than just "prettier step trackers." Ela devices will also have their own mobile app with which users can create "memories" that can be shared with a specific device. Content like photos, voice recordings, and songs can be preloaded to Ela devices so that users who are given the device as a gift can open up the content on their smartphones and relive "special memories" they have with the gifter.
"Jewelry is a lot about sharing special moments," Ulrich told ZDet. "We wanted to create the modern-day locket and allow people to store memories in their jewelry.... If someone wants all the features in the world, they'll get a smartwatch. But we tried to create a much more emotional connection with a product, rather than being purely about the functionality."
Buffett and Richline Group are taking a different approach to wearables than we see from most tech companies. Richline Group specializes in jewelry, and Buffett sees investing in wearables as an extension of the jewelry business. "Jewelry is a centuries-old business that isn't going anywhere, so it's a safe bet," Buffett told CNBC in an statement. "With the addition of technology, we're simply updating something everyone knows and loves to better fit our modern age."
This is just another example of a fashion and accessories company figuring out the best way of incorporating wearable technology into what it knows best. Fossil Group is the fashion company that has made arguably the biggest investment in wearables so far, starting off by making a few Android Wear watches and smart bracelets. Now, most of Fossil Group's brands, including Michael Kors, Emporio Armani, and Diesel, have hybrid smartwatches that look like regular watches they would have produced anyway but with fitness tracking and smart notification features.
We'll likely see more companies, like Richline Group, experiment with this strategy in the future, trying to determine how they can fit wearable technology into their business model. Instead of trying to make the best wearable or smartwatch (like Apple, Google, and other companies are competing to do), these companies are going to focus on how technology can work within their current business structure. And there's room for both methods in the wearable space: some people will want the most high-tech smartwatch available, but others are going to want a device that speaks to their sense of style and also offers a few complementary tech features. Richline Group's Ela jewelry line will debut sometime this spring and will start with stainless steel, silver, and gold bracelets priced between $195 and $295.
