Empowering (Smart) Jewellery: Identifying Tensions between Innovation and Sentiment

The traditional values of jewellery—such as remembrance, self-expression, or symbolic meaning—are often overlooked in smart jewellery research. To examine how technological integration might influence these values, we conducted an online survey with 81 participants. Our findings suggest that many participants were reluctant to embed technology into their empowering jewellery pieces, with some describing it as “contaminating” them. At the same time, participants expressed interest in extending jewellery with features such as health monitoring and other functional utilities. We contribute initial insights into how technology may reshape the perceived meaning and value of jewellery, offering implications for the design of future smart jewellery.