Two years ago at CES 2023, we met with a little start-up company called Nova Products GMBH. They were showcasing the innovative Nova H1 audio earrings. This piece of jewelry is designed to be worn as clip-on earrings, but they’re secretly wireless earbuds. And they have become part of the public conversation this month for a very specific reason.
Why Is Everyone Talking About The Nova H1 Audio Earrings?
Following the U.S. Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, some viewers believed that Harris’ earrings strongly resembled these audio earrings. The design includes a freshwater pearl on a clip plated in either gold or silver. They believed she was wearing these high-tech earrings to have audio fed to her.
Was Kamala Harris Wearing These Earrings?
For the record, Munich-based Icebach Sound Solutions, the IP development company that acquired Nova’s intellectual property after the company went insolvent, has responded to the reports. The company has “thoroughly analyzed” the photos of Harris during the September 10, 2024 debate and released a statement.
“[We] have come to the conclusion that these are not our H1 Audio Ear Rings. In some photos, this can be clearly recognized by the different design.”
What’s more, Icebach now owns the patents since Nova went out of business. The company developed its own IP and its own version of the H1 Audio Ear Rings. But they are still in the early development stages for creating a mass-produced product. The company demonstrated them at CES 2024 earlier this year. But they have been prioritizing securing intellectual property over product development. The company is still in the process of sourcing luxury and jewelry clients to help manufacture the product at scale.
A Limited Number Are Available Now Due to the Rise In Interest
However, with the rise of interest in the audio jewelry after the debate, despite the fact that the earrings Harris were wearing were just regular earrings, Icebach has decided to produce a limited number of the Nova H1 Audio Ear Rings. The limited-edition buds sell for a hefty fee: US$1,895 in silver and US$1,995 in gold exclusively through eBay. The online resellers was chosen, a representative tells us, because eBay directly processes U.S. sales tax.
The buds work similarly to bone conduction headphones. They send audio signals to your ears without actually sitting in, on, or over them. While bone conduction headphones rest at your temple, some similar models around the neck, these earbuds go on the lobes. They are designed for listening to music and taking phone calls, not as high-tech earpieces.
This model is different from the ones I briefly tried at CES 2023. But I did notice back then that while audio was relatively clear, the sound wasn’t particularly loud. Being in a crowded room with plenty of noise (they were shown at a pre-CES press event), however, was not the best environment in which to test them. But they sounded sufficient for listening to tunes while you travel or having a phone call while walking down the street. The benefit with this design is that the wearer doesn’t have to put in a pair of earbuds in their ears and take them out each time they need them. Rather, the buds are always on the ears, only in play when needed.
With that said, Icebach Sound Solutions GmbH, which has no legal connections to Nova Products, still hasn’t mass produced these Ear Rings. While they might become a product at scale at some point in the future, for now, they remain an interesting start-up concept. But if you’re curious to get a pair of the limited numbers that have been produced with this recent attention, you’ll need to spend more than you might on a new living room TV.