Jewellery is just not in my journalistic remit however when know-how meets jewellery, my curiosity is piqued. Finnish jewellery designer Jenni Ahtiainen’s work has been seen on each home and worldwide levels. Now, the designer’s everlasting handprint will go down within the historical past books as Ahtiainen’s Deafmetal listening to support jewellery is heading to London’s world-famous Victoria & Albert Museum which is holding a ‘Design & Incapacity’ exhibition.

Natalie Kane, curator of the exhibition wished Ahtiainen’s listening to support jewellery to be a part of the style part as a result of she noticed Deafmetal as “an awesome instance of a jeweler’s model that was impressed by the designer’s personal work historical past and her personal sudden deafness.”

The exhibition will showcase the unconventional contributions of disabled, deaf and neurodivergent folks and communities to design and modern tradition, stretching from the Forties to the current day.

“Everybody has a need to go away one thing of themselves behind. One thing significant… I managed to create one thing that’s necessary sufficient that the distinguished V&A needs to showcase it to the world. This choice is a dream come true for me as a designer. I by no means would have thought that shedding my listening to would find yourself being probably the greatest issues that’s ever occurred to me – it led to my invention, and now additionally to this exhibition,” says Ahtiainen.

Ahtiainen acquired her listening to aids in 2018 and as a substitute of attempting to cover them, she did the other and designed an innovation that permits listening to support customers to remodel their units into self-expressive items of jewellery. Ahtiainen went on to put up an image of her personal tuned-up listening to aids on social media, and inside hours the put up went viral. Quickly, Deafmetal turned a full-time job for the designer.

“I simply wished to make my very own units feel and appear like me, and in doing so, I merged scientific well being know-how with what I knew – the style trade… what I made by following my intestine instincts turned out to be life-changing, and never just for me.”

Listening to support jewellery is just not listening to support jewellery with out the aids. Deafmetals are suitable with any sort of listening to system from any producer. The designs for the V&A are mixed with an Superior Bionics cochlear implant and a ReSound listening to support.

Lately, Deafmetal has been awarded a number of enterprise and innovation awards, each nationally and internationally. As early as 2018, it gained the New Product of the Yr award on the largest crafts honest in Europe. In 2019, the invention gained silver on the international Artistic Enterprise Cup innovation competitors, and in 2021, silver on the Fortress Enterprise Event. In 2022, VISA awarded Ahtiainen with the ‘She’s Subsequent’ Award for uplifting feminine entrepreneurs.

There may be typically a stigma related to listening to aids, which is why individuals are reluctant to confess to listening to issues – even to themselves. In line with a survey carried out within the spring of 2025, Deafmetal improves the life of listening to support customers by providing trendy jewellery items that rework listening to aids into equipment that match the person’s private style and elegance, whereas preserving their listening to units securely in place, protected from falling off or getting misplaced.

Untreated listening to loss can result in reminiscence and cognitive decline and has even been linked to a better danger of growing Alzheimer’s illness and different types of dementia. The answer is just not solely empowering earlier but in addition extra common use of listening to units.

Over 90% of Deafmetal customers contemplate styling and personalization necessary concerns for medical and assistive units, and over 90% of those listening to system customers really feel extra assured when carrying them with jewellery and elaborations. Over 50% of customers report that they put on their listening to units extra recurrently since they began carrying Deafmetals, that’s in keeping with a survey of 147 listening to system customers carried out in April 2025

“Listening to aids assist folks with listening to loss deal with on a regular basis life and work and take part in social conditions. On the Finnish Listening to Affiliation, we expect it’s necessary that Deafmetal listening to support jewellery is seen as encouraging folks to make use of listening to aids,” says Sanna Kaijanen, Government Director of the Finnish Listening to Affiliation.

Ahtiainen has a powerful historical past in equipment and jewellery design. Neckwear items designed beneath her earlier gTie model are nonetheless seen yearly on the Finnish Independence Day Celebration on the President’s corridor, on quite a few music and cultural influencers akin to Michael Monroe, Ville Valo and most not too long ago in 2024 “blues minister” Esa Kuloniemi. Ahtiainen’s most well-known worldwide shoppers embrace Marilyn Manson, Bono and Snoop Dogg.

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The V&A’s Design & Incapacity Exhibition opens in London on 7 June 2025. It features a Deafmetal cochlear implant jewellery design. Deafmetal merchandise can be found worldwide through the Deafmetal Retailer.