Feature
MyJemma reveals what we love most
Our loved ones are always in our hearts, of course – but Finnish MyJemma jewellery keeps them almost just as close, just in 2D.
What if an accessory, like a necklace, could tell whom you think about the most?
Marko Kallio
quickly touches his smartphone with a MyJemma locket, and photos of his family start appearing on the screen. No battery, no charging, no apps, no cables; just a quick, light tap.
“It’s pretty remarkable in my eyes, too,” Kallio admits. “The tiniest pulse of energy from the phone’s battery is enough to activate the chip.”
The chip, located inside a digital locket, reveals whatever the user decides to store on his or her MyJemma account. The chip is a key to a cloud for photos and videos – like a modern-day medallion. It just comes with more privacy and storage capacity than the traditional one:
“The cloud can be password-protected,” Kallio points out. “Even if the locket is lost or falls into the wrong hands, the files stay safe.”
A MyJemma locket, made of sterling silver, is sold with a silver chain and a two-year license to the cloud. After that, the license can be continued for a nominal fee, storage size options ranging from 100 megabytes to a gigabyte.
If paying for the service doesn’t sound tempting, the jewellery itself is worth wearing, too. MyJemma pieces are all designed and handcrafted in Finland.
Born out of a tough situation
The story of MyJemma began under what initially seemed like unfortunate circumstances. For over a decade, Kallio was the head of an international cancer research and drug development team, and medical biotechnology had been his life work. When the research unit was shut down, all employee contracts were terminated – including those of Kallio and his wife.
“We were given the notice on the same day,” he recalls. “It was a tough situation, also in the financial sense.”
The couple started to consider entrepreneurship as an option, and some colleagues from the research unit jumped on board. The group’s aim was to create a Gift 2.0: something that serves various purposes, isn’t a seasonal product and tends to not be affected by trends and fads.
The first item was one-and-a-half years in the making.
“It wasn’t just product development,” Kallio points out. “We built up a whole team of partners from subcontractors to designers, starting from scratch.”
Season’s greetings from the CEO
MyJemma jewellery, which is for sale in an online store and soon also through resellers, is targeted at both consumers and businesses. When it comes to individual customers, its appeal lies in the emotional value the digital content brings to the piece of jewellery.
“For example, memories from a stag or hen do or a wedding can be collected inside the locket and given as a gift,” Kallio suggests.
For companies, MyJemma provides a communication channel to reach out to and engage with employees, partners and key clients. The CEO can send Christmas greetings in video form, and later users can replace it with their personal content if they so wish.
MyJemma also has a range of other business gifts that contain the chip and the service, such as key rings, pens and business cards.
“Imagination sets the limits for different uses of our products and service,” Kallio tells. “We started out with jewellery as it suits both B2B and B2C markets, but there are plenty of other possibilities, too.”
One new thing that’s coming up is a piece of jewellery that can be attached to an existing pendant. This lets people who’ve already found their favourite necklace add digital features to it.
“Jewellery is primarily a design business,” Kallio says. “Nobody needs to buy or wear a piece of jewellery they aren’t fond of.”
MyJemma is all about feelings, anyway.
“We’re not measuring stress or blood pressure, as MyJemma isn’t an activity band or a fitness tracker. We want to be an instrument for increasing feelings of closeness and happiness to people’s lives.”