Fitness trackers have come a long way since Fitbit and Xiaomi first popularized this category. Over time, these have evolved into two product types: smartwatches and smart rings. It remains a mystery as to why no major brand has entered the smart ring market — not even Samsung, whose Galaxy Ring won’t be launching until later in 2024.

Meanwhile, a Chinese firm recently stole the limelight by unveiling the world’s first transparent smart ring, the Omate Crystal, at BEYOND Expo 2024. This is made with scratch-resistant sapphire, which has a much lower yield and is more difficult to craft, hence its limited production.

“We’re not sure how to price it yet,” Omate founder and CEO Laurent Le Pen said. “We can only make around 1,000 units per month.”

The Omate Crystal is otherwise largely identical to the company’s Ice Ring (branded by France’s Ice Watch), which launched in October 2023 for 199 EUR, and it comes in black, gold and silver. The battery can last for up to six days on normal usage, and it can be recharged via a magnetic cradle. In addition to scratch resistance, this sapphire ring also has IP68 dust and water resistance. As a bonus, it comes in eight sizes — two more than the Ice Ring.

The ring’s unobtrusive design means you can wear it for sleep monitoring without too much discomfort. “Many people cannot sleep with their watch, and many people don’t want to sleep also with their smartwatch, so [our smart ring] is an amazing device for sleep monitoring and for all your health biometric tracking,” Le Pen added.

Much like other wearables, Omate’s smart rings can track all four sleep stages: deep sleep (restful), light sleep, REM (rapid eye movement, or dreaming) and awake. This may help the user better understand how to improve sleep quality, especially when visualized in the Ice Ring smartphone app (synced over Bluetooth).

In addition to activity tracking, blood oxygen tracking and stress monitoring, the Omate Crystal is also made for continuous heart rate monitoring. When necessary, you can share your relevant health data to third-party medical services from the app.

For Le Pen, his smart ring launch is very much like his smartwatch adventure all over again. It took years for consumers to finally understand the value of smartwatches, and also for him to pivot his smartwatch business from consumer-oriented to a focus on insurance and security, that is, elderly care and child tracking. With smart rings, Le Pen is hoping to leverage existing brands and quirky designs to target consumers once again.

All images by Richard Lai.