Oura collaborated with Gucci to make an 18 carat gold smart ring

Oura, the startup that's pushing the limits of how small a wearable can be, just announced a collaboration that could boost its profile considerably. It's teaming with fashion house Gucci on the Gucci x Oura Ring, crafted in black synthetic corundum and adorned with the famous interlocking "G" and a braided torchon pattern, both in 18 carat yellow gold. It comes with Oura's latest Generation 3 tech, letting users monitor live heart rate, sleep, activity and more.

The ring weighs just four grams (0.14 ounces), but can read heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature to tell users if they're stressed or sick. It can supposedly measure heart rate more accurately than wrist-based smart watches by using arteries in the fingers. Users also receive sleep analysis based on those same vitals, with everything summarized into Sleep, Activity and Readiness scores displayed on the Oura App. It can then offer "science-backed content on how to optimize each day," according to the company.

In our last Oura Ring hands-on, we noted that the company has switched to a subscription model that costs $6 per month on top of the price of the ring ($300 for the current Oura Ring). Getting it down to such a small size was quite the feat of engineering, but it's still a tad chunky compared to a regular ring.

You'll obviously pay a premium for the Gucci x Oura Ring, now available at select stores around the world for $950. The good news is that Oura's "Lifetime Membership" subscription is included in the price, so you'll never have to pay for that. For more, check out the Gucci x Oura landing page here.

Update 5/26/2022 9:50 AM ET: The post was updated with the correct Gucci x Oura Ring price of $950.