Review: The LoveYourEars jewellery collection – a new way to style hearing aids

A jewellery collection, LoveYourEars, has recently launched as a result of a collaboration between jewellery brand Deafmetal® and hearing care company Hidden Hearing.

Jenni Ahtiainen, designer and founder of Deafmetal® experienced hearing loss in her 40s and as a result founded her brand which specifically creates designs for accessorising hearing aids and cochlear implant processors. Jenni states,

“As a designer, I wanted my hearing aids to express my style and be part of me. So I started Deafmetal®, which is changing the way people see hearing aids, one day at a time.”

The LoveYourEars designs for Hidden Hearing are the first hearing aid friendly jewellery collection to launch on the UK high street and can be found at selected Hidden Hearing centres and are also available to purchase online.

The range consists of a pair of earrings which are connected to a holster that attaches to the back of a hearing aid or cochlear implant processor. As you stretch the silicone holster around the hearing aid, a chain then attaches to an earring, which you can wear, highlighting your hearing aid and turning it into a fashion accessory.

There are six different styles you can choose from, ranging from pearl drops and amethyst pendants to plain figaro chains. I selected the Cats Eye pendant set to try out and offer my review for our readers. It is gold plated and has a 7cm safety chain.

As someone who likes their hearing aids to stand out, I am no stranger to accessorising my hearing aid. I’ve tried stickers in the past, floral attachments which fit around the tube and I always wear colourful, glittery moulds if possible too. So I am pleased to see fashion designers experimenting with what may work for a hearing aid user.

The earrings themselves are attractive designs with a good variety of styles on offer. The defining feature for the designs seem to be the chain that runs from the back of the earring to the hearing aid, making the accessory clearly noticeable. I thought the cats eye pendant was particularly pretty and is a style I would wear.

Sampling this set, I was unable to wear the design on both ears as I only wear one hearing aid. However, I discovered from their website that it is possible to request one earring only if you are a single aid wearer!

I also found the holsters rather small to fit comfortably around my standard hearing aid. So small, in fact, that I accidentally ripped one holster as I attempted to stretch it around my hearing aid. The battery compartment also needs to be shut when I attach the holster, a fiddly job that no doubt is accompanied by the whistling sound of a turned-on hearing aid. This is something to consider if you were in a quiet environment and wanted to adjust the accessory.

Whist I love the accessory styles and wholeheartedly endorse the campaign to change the negative perception of hearing aids, I do feel that in order to be fully inclusive, the price range of the LoveYourEars collection would benefit from being re-considered or at least more affordable designs added to the range too.

With the current prices starting at £55 and the highest cost being £75 for the pearl drops, I do feel that this is an accessory range that may be limited in the market of people that it will appeal to.

I really admire the mission by Deafmetal® to alter how hearing aids are perceived, and it is refreshing to see such modern designs with a hearing aid device. They are fashionable and quirky and enable a hearing aid wearer to express their sense of style with their aid too.

I hope with some little tweaks and a more varied price range, we may see hearing aid accessories becoming a real trend and the stigma surrounding wearing hearing aids and cochlear implant processors lessening.

For more information or to explore the range online, see https://www.deafmetal.store/category/27/love-your-ears