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Suzanne Belperron, JAR Shine in Sotheby’s First Auctions at New HQSotheby’s held its first two jewelry sales at the Breuer building last week, and they totaled nearly $44 million.
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Richline Acquires Wearable Tech Co. Viawear
Viawear makes a smart bracelet called Tyia and is the latest in a line of companies bought by the jewelry manufacturer.
Jewelry manufacturer Richline just announced its purchase of filtered-notification company Viawear.
Las Vegas--The Richline Group has acquired Viawear, a wearable technology company.
Viawear is the creator of the Tyia smart bracelet and it was founded with the goal of creating jewelry that alerts consumers only to important and user-select notifications, allowing them to step away from their smartphones.
The company’s chief creative officer is Walter Chefitz, who spent nearly six years working as the design director at David Yurman and is currently the creative director at Walt Adler.
“Our objective has always been to develop smart accessories that truly complements our wearer’s lifestyle,” said Ben Isaacson, founder and CEO of Viawear. “Blending Richline’s tremendous jewelry acumen with Viawear’s technology platform allows us to make this vision into a reality that can help drive the world of fine jewelry into the world of wearable technology.”
Joel Schechter of the Richline Group said, “Viawear’s technology and designs compliment everything we’ve set out to achieve in the smart jewelry space.”
The Berkshire Hathaway-owned jewelry manufacturing company has demonstrated a deep interest in wearable tech. At last year’s JCK Las Vegas trade show it hosted a “World of Wearables” event, showcasing a variety of devices.
This year, Viawear’s technological capabilities were on display at JCK Las Vegas at booth #PC-200 in the Plumb Club.
Richline’s purchase of Viawear follows is acquisition of custom jewelry e-commerce site Gemvara in April and precious metal manufacturer John C. Nordt in May.
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