Jamie F
A sequel product to the Vesper necklace vibrator, that garnered a cult following aided by praise from A-list celebrities, is being released by the Crave sextech company.
The Vesper 2 is being funded on Kickstarter, where it received over $120,000 in pledge money from around 1,000 backers as of November 22, 2022. It reached 400 percent of its target with 35 days remaining to run.
The success of the Kickstarter, which ends on December 19, 2022, suggests that visible wearable sextech products are becoming more mainstream, with Crave’s marketing for the product suitably focusing on themes of stigma-breaking and empowerment.
Ti Chang, Crave’s co-founder, said the new vibrator necklace was a “symbol of sexual empowerment” that makes the wearer “feel seen and empowered in a way other products do not.”
The original Vesper vibrator necklace was released way back in 2014. It received much customer praise plus media and celebrity attention, largely thanks to its sleek, subtle look. Madonna appears to have been sent an early-release gift pack of the Vesper 2, with the singer posting a photo of the swag on Instagram.
The singer wrote on Instagram: “Poor is the man Whose Pleasure Depends On the permission of Another.” Gwyneth Paltrow and Cara Delevingne (which could perhaps be a bit awkward) are among the other celebrities believed to own Crave’s vibrator necklace products.
The new stainless steel Vesper 2 is fully waterproof and has four different vibration sensation settings: low, medium, high and wave. The wave pattern replaces the pule pattern the original Vesper had – a design change Crave said was based on customer feedback. It is available in black, rose gold and gold color schemes, and costs from $69. It will retail for $98 normally.
“Pleasure jewelry is an outward expression of desire and a tool of activism. I’m giving people a tool to be able to open up and spark conversations with others if people want to use it that way,” Crave co-founder and Vesper 2 designer Chang told Core77.
She added: “Certainly, people can enjoy it and use it in private, but conversations are incredibly powerful in changing stigmatized topics because shame thrives in silence, so having a tool like Vesper, a beautiful object, is a much easier on-ramp in opening up a meaningful and respectful conversation.”
Of course, Madonna’s approval likely didn’t hurt the crowdfunding campaign and may well have contributed to it blasting past its $25,000 initial target goal. Celebrity endorsements of sex toys are now more commonplace, bringing the discussion about sexual health and pleasure closer to the mainstream. Lily Allen, Cara Delevigne and Demi Lovato have all partnered with sex tech brands in the past year to promote toys.
Read next: Who’s who in sextech: 40 essential follows for your social feeds
