Signet 01
A cryptographic signet ring.
A sterling-silver instrument containing a secure cryptographic key.
Touch it to a phone to review and approve an exact digital action.
Your decision is signed by the object and recorded as a Seal.
01 / Human Authority
As digital systems become capable of acting for us, who holds authority?
Signet 01 places a deliberate point of human approval between a proposed action and its execution.
The exact request is shown to the holder and signed when the ring is touched to the phone. The system can verify that decision before it proceeds.
Antenna face02 / The Instrument
Signet 01
- 01
- Sterling silver
- 02
- Passive NFC · no battery
- 03
- Secure element · on-chip generated, non-extractable key
- 04
- Signs a specific digital request
- 05
- Individually numbered · issued · registered
- 06
- Serviceable over its lifetime
The square spiral is both its antenna and its identifying face. The object, its cryptographic identity and its provenance remain connected.
03 / The Act
Review
See exactly what will happen.
Tap
Tap Signet 01 to the phone.
Seal
Signet 01 signs the request and creates a verifiable Seal.
04 / Issuance
Provenance accrues.
Each Signet is numbered in the order it is issued and entered into the Register. Its number, first holder and first Seal fix its origin.
Every later Seal, service and change of holder is added to the same record, automatically.
Over time, the record becomes the provenance of the object.
05 / Hannon Tan
We are an independent design and invention studio developing physical instruments for human authority in digital systems.
The work brings together industrial design, precious materials, cryptography and emerging digital infrastructure.
Signet 01 is the first instrument.
Prototype study · Signet 01Authority, made tangible.
Signet 01 ·