Last August, Sotheby’s NY made headlines after its “Art as Jewelry as Art” sale became the first auction to include a ring that the buyer would be able to own in both the metaverse and IRL. 

Dubbed the “Ethereum Expedition,” the one-of-a-kind 18K gold-and-emerald ring, as you may have already seen, was designed by Francine Ballard of Metagolden, paying tribute to future intercontinental rocket launches we would expect to see in our future, while simultaneously speaking to collectors who understand that blockchain is integral to our cultural revolution.

The ‘Ethereum Expedition’ ring by Metagolden (CNW Group/Metagolden)

Metagolden, which launched in June 2021, has since rebranded to House of Web3 (“HW3”), a technology-enabled lifestyle company that now expands beyond fine jewelry and turns its attention to offering connected luxury goods, including apparel and art. 

Today, HW3 announced its Membership Pass, which is a collection that will consist of tiered, dynamic membership tokens offering fractional ownership and inclusion in future retail partnerships and brand activations. 

Ballard, who is also Paper City Magazine’s Style Editor-At-Large, has brought in some of Web3’s brightest minds as founding members to HW3, including, but not limited to:

Cathy Hackl, Stephanie Simon (Farfetch), Gigi Graziosi Casimiro (Decentraland), Avery Akkineni (Vayner3), Daria Shaparalova (DressX), Alissa Aulbekova and Paula Sello (Auroboros), Swan Sit, Jamie Schmidt and Brit Morin (BFF), Capera Ryan (Christie’s), Aliyya Stude (Sotheby’s), Christine Theriot (World of Women), Shira Lazar, Megan Kaspar (Red DAO), Marjorie Hernandez (Lukso), Dina Fierro (Shiseido Group), Nirmala Shome (The Fabricant), Eric Spivak, David Cash (Cash Labs), Enara Nazarova (Armoar), Subham Jain (XR Couture), James Gaubert (Republige), Doug Scott (Subnation), and Alexandra Ilg (The Dematerialised). 

“Where our initial goal was to bring established brands to Web3, the next phase will be the  converse. By sharing our experience and resources we are in a unique position to provide artists and  digital creators a platform to monetize and enhance their own brands,” Ballard told Hypemoon.

She explained that HW3 is about the people, and its overarching mission of creating an “asymmetrical platform with unparalleled value” is something she hasn’t seen in fashion before. 

“At some point, all of what we are doing will be mainstream, but until then, it’s up to us to bring new consumers into the fold,” Ballard says. 

Members of HW3 can expect to enjoy access to in-house manufacturing capabilities allowing creators to launch their own “connected” collections, in addition to access to workshops on asset design, consumer trends reports, fixed token rewards from profitable community driven projects, and other opportunities for members to empower one another at their own events – whether it’s during Miami’s Art Basel, ETHDenver, NFT Paris, etc. 

On March 23, HW3 began airdropping its initial rounds of beautifully designed Membership Passes to HW3 founding members. The art for the token was inspired by Piet Mondrian and created by glitch artist Kilsy Curiel, who Ballard has previously worked with for several of her past collections.

For those unfamiliar with Mondrian’s work, he advocated pure abstraction and a pared down palette in order to express a utopian ideal of universal harmony in all the arts. Through basic forms and colors, Mondrian believed that his vision of modern art would transcend divisions in culture and become a new common creative language.

“This vision so perfectly encapsulates what HW3 hopes to imbue on newcomers to the space: freedom of expression, universal equality and validation of a new mode of connection and creation,” Ballard emphasized.

What’s Next for HW3?

In addition to today’s newly announced Membership Pass, HW3 is also dropping a 3,000 piece “connected” collection with fashion illustrator, Blair Breitenstein.

Breitenstein, who has worked with legacy brands such as Prada, Oscar de la Renta, and Chanel, in addition to executing her own successful digital collectibles collection in 2021, is now focused on HW3 with her Blairz x HW3 collection.

Ballard also says that following the HW3’s collaboration with Breitenstein, it is turning its attention to its upcoming collaboration with World of Women (WoW), where it will be hosting a weeklong store-in-store retail pop-up in NYC featuring a first-time collaborative capsule collection.

Following its collaboration with WoW, HW3 will also be preparing for its collaboration with California pop-artist Tyler Spangler, who has previously collaborated with Coach, Gucci, Hermès, and Nike.

According to Ballard, memberships to HW3 will be offered for .1ETH, with profits expected to be distributed back to members beginning in Q1 2024. 

Helping power HW3’s dynamic membership token is Passage Protocol, a Web3 infrastructure company that is also powering CoinDesk’s new multi-tiered NFT Pass to the next three years of Consensus. 

In other news, read about LVMH Aura Blockchain Consortium, a new collective formed by members of Mercedes Benz, Prada, Cartier, and OTB Group to help provide innovative transparency and traceability of their luxury goods. 

Disclaimer: I am a founding member of HW3, but no money or third-party influence was  offered, exchanged, or used as the basis for writing this article.