Ultrahuman thinks its 18-karat gold smart ring is worth $1,900

CES 2025 is officially underway, and the adrenaline of a day of running around Las Vegas is fading fast. Yet I cannot fall asleep. Probably because I’ve been replaying the same three product teaser videos over and over and over. One opens with the familiar frenetic strains of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons violin concerto, panning to a CGI desert, where grains of sand blow in undulating wisps. The words “Rare by Ultrahuman” emerge on a stark black background. Then, from the depths of a CGI dune, emerges a smart ring.

The other two videos are carbon copies, except in one, the desert is a golden pink. In the other, a wintry silver.

I check the press release. The rings range from £1500 to £1800. I immediately pull up Google. That’s roughly $1,900 to $2,200. I rack my brain. The most expensive smart ring I can remember is Oura’s collaboration with Gucci, which I described in my writeup as an eye-watering $950. I double-check that my tired brain hasn’t goofed the conversion. It hasn’t. My eye twitches.

Rare, the Ultrahuman press release says, is meant to be a luxury smart ring. It will come in three colors: desert rose, dune, and desert snow. Or, you know, rose gold, gold, and silver. They are apparently thusly named because the collection “captures the essence of nature’s most captivating phenomena. From the intricate fluid elegance of wind-sculpted dunes, each piece embodies the harmonious blend of beauty and resilience found in these arid landscapes.”

The desert rose and dune rings are made of 18-karat gold “sourced from London Bullion Market Association.” These will cost $1,900. Meanwhile, the desert snow ring is “meticulously crafted from pt950 platinum, a metal of exceptional purity and prestige.” It will cost $2,200. While I think of how that’s around my monthly mortgage payment, I read more purple prose about the symbolism of harmony between nature and technology, the wind’s gentle caress of a dune, and the rarity of snow blanketing the desert.

I squint at the press renders of these rings. They look like ordinary smart rings.

Spec-wise, Rare is the same as the Ultrahuman Ring Air. The Ultrahuman Ring Air is a great smart ring and came this close to beating the Oura Ring in my smart ring battle royale last year. That ring costs $350 — a standard, reasonable price for a smart ring. The Rare series is roughly five to six times that price. According to Ultrahuman, this is the price of the artisanal craftsmanship and complex engineering — and a lifetime membership to UltrahumanX, the smart ring maker’s extended warranty subscription. You also get access to all of Ultrahuman’s PowerPlugs, features that you buy a la carte on Ultrahuman’s platform such as period tracking, vitamin D tracking, and smart alarms. That includes any future PowerPlugs. Is that worth $1,900 to $2,200?

I go back to my inbox and reread the FAQ Ultrahuman sent me for the billionth time. Under the question, “Is there demand for this” and “who is the target buyer?” there’s an impassioned plea. People have been using the Ultrahuman Ring Air — which I vehemently maintain is a great smart ring — for engagements and gifts for loved ones. Rare, the FAQ says, is a natural evolution toward jewelry becoming smart like everything else. The ideal buyer? “Rare speaks to those who seek exclusivity and purpose in the choices they make.”

The more I read, the more this feels like a fever-dream pitch from Jony Ive, because it’s the same doomed approach Apple took for its Watch Edition.

I don’t know what time is anymore, but I look at the Oura Ring 4 in brushed silver on my finger. Then I look at the desert snow ring render on my laptop screen. My eyes dart back and forth several times. Hm. Hmm.

At some point, I don’t know when, I realize I have become The Verge’s very own Gollum. I am sleep-deprived, dark circles forming under my eyes. My reflection in the hotel mirror as I grab some water scares me. But I can think of nothing else. We must see our precious $2,000 smart rings in person. Yes. We wants it. We must seek it on the show floor because Rare will only launch in London and Paris at “select premium retail locations” to start. Yes, we must see this, we must feel it on our finger if only to answer the one burning question: what would make a $2,000 smart ring worth it?