Picture credit: Cuff/YouTube

Take a look at Cuff. The startup, which provides jewellery that serves as a fitness and activity tracker, has won an award for the most beautiful wearable of 2014 at the Decoded Fashion summit in New York.

The company’s collection, which includes necklaces and bracelets, are powered by interchangeable modules, called CuffLincs, which connect directly to iPhone and Android apps.

Cuff lasts seven days without charging, and comes with a single press, double press and triple press system, which the user can decide how to utilise. The app is free to download for now, with users having to pay only for the jewellery.

Cuff beat off competition from Jon Lou, a handbag which charges your smartphone, Kovert Designs, notification-based jewellery, Machina, a hoodie with speakers integrated into it, and Viawear, a colour coded smart bracelet.

To qualify the wearables had to launch this year in the US, be ready to market – or at least available to pre-order – and answer the following questions, according to PC Mag: Is it beautiful? Would a fashion-oriented consumer use it? Does it stand out? Is there a need?

It’s notable that the first three questions seemingly outweigh the fourth, asking if there is a need for the product after assessing its looks. As Cuff points out on its website, which would you rather wear – a bog-standard plastic bracelet, or a real piece of jewellery?

A panel discussion at Apps World Europe last week discussed the future of wearable technologies, with the consensus unanimous; wearable tech needs to look good for mass buy-in.  Craig Watson, COO and co-founder of Smartwave, called his current smartwatch “pretty ugly”, while Pebble’s Shobeir Shobeiri described making his firm’s product look good as “very important.”

Having won the award for most beautiful wearable, Cuff will now be featured on Style.com. You can find out more about the company here.

 

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