Barbara Walters never takes hers off. Madonna wears one and now wants to order pint-sized versions for her kids.
It’s the latest health craze turned fashion accessory: a watch with a chip that is said to protect against electronic pollution from cell phones, computers and DVD players.
Derided as New Age and far out by some skeptics, the watch, made by Philip Stein, has nevertheless been selling out at Bloomingdale’s, where basic models go for $595 and a top-of-the-line diamond-encrusted style sells for $1,995.
The popular watch is the brainchild of researcher Ilonka Harezi, who for more than two decades has been studying the effect of electromagnetic frequencies on the human body.
By some estimates, the amount of electromagnetic radiation has increased a hundred-fold over the past century. A number of studies have linked the increase to various forms of cancer and other diseases.
Convinced there was a way to harness this energy, Harezi and former partner Dr. Andrija Puharich, who died in 1994, based much of their work on the research of Nikola Tesla, a protégé of Thomas Edison.
They eventually named a chip after him, called the Teslar, that can be inserted into a watch or bracelet and is claimed to protect the brain much the way sunscreen protects the skin.
An early version of the watch was sold strictly as a medical device designed to help a small group of people who have severe reactions to electromagnetic rays. Harezi told The Post that she became convinced the watch would be a hit with everyday consumers looking to lower their stress levels.
She approached Philip Stein after seeing a picture of one of the company’s watches in a magazine.
Dr. Valerie Hunt, a professor emeritus at UCLA, said that in tests she conducted, those who wore the watch experienced a general sense of improved well-being.
Now Harezi, through her ELF Laboratories in St. Francisville, Ill., is working on other health remedies, including something called the light-beam generator, a briefcase-size device used by Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France to recharge the lymphatic system and help it remove toxins from the body.