20 hours ago
5
I'll admit I was skeptical when I first heard about Nirva AI jewelry. The idea of an AI companion that would sense my emotions instead of operating off of prompts was intriguing, but I wasn't sure it would actually work. After getting a chance to take a peek at the stylish silver necklace and matching module at CES 2026 I left interested instead of suspicious.
Think of the Nirva as a modern mood ring, reimagined as jewelry for today's AI boom. It's a necklace or bracelet that aims to actively learn from you and offer guidance in return. With many AI wearables on the market focused on tracking health and wellness metrics, the Nirva positions itself as something more personal, an ever-present AI companion designed to understand your life as you live it.
And surprisingly, the idea of that didn't horrify me. The team said the Nirva is about sensing and learning. Instead of relying solely on prompts or manually entered data, the jewelry gathers insights passively throughout your day to try to build a richer picture of your habits, emotional patterns and routines. You can press a button to turn the Nirva off if you want it to stop recording audio.
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The Nirva wants to learn continuously from real-world behavior by recording your audio throughout the day. From those recordings, it aims to offer advice on work, relationships and everyday decision-making. Think of it as "audio journaling" after a long day.
The founder of Nirva showed me her app, which tracked her stress levels, the people she interacted with most, her energy levels and a few other metrics over the course of the day. Nirva can go two days without needing a fresh charge, but it does come with a charging case you can rest the jewelry in that operates similarly to a charge case for AirPods.
The Nirva can go two days without needing a fresh charge, but does come with a charging case.
Macy Meyer/CNETSeeing and touching the product in person makes a difference. The jewelry is genuinely stylish, with both masculine and feminine designs that feel modern, clean and wearable. It doesn't scream, "tech" and it doesn't scream "I'm wearing AI!" The materials and finish feel solid and thoughtfully designed, more like something you'd pick up from a contemporary jewelry brand than a gadget booth at CES. "It's the first jewelry other than my wedding ring I'm willing to wear," said Ethan Rasiel, head of PR for Nirva. "It doesn't look clunky or gimmicky."
What stood out most in my hands-on time was how intentional the device feels. Nirva works precisely because it's a subtle piece of jewelry, which for many people is something you already choose to wear close to your body. That physical closeness reinforces the emotional goal of the product, which is to be attuned to you, to your moods and to your rhythms. Like mood rings of the past, it's meant to reflect something internal, but unlike those color-changing trinkets, Nirva aims to add intelligence, memory and insight.
Nirva will be available for preorder next month and will ship sometime in early 2026. The AI jewelry module retails for $200, with the necklace chains or bracelets at another $30 to $50. The app will cost $12 to $14 a month. Nirva plans to expand to offer a version that has a built-in camera to record images as well as audio.
