Now, digital calipers with wired interfaces to capture the current reading are nothing new. But the good ones are expensive, and really, where’s the fun in plugging a $75 cable into a computer?

High-fashion brake calipers will be one of the next frontiers in automotive design, as big, low-profile tires and open-faced wheels grow more common, and Brembo is working to get there first.

(In case you wonder, firm-joint calipers—which means both arms pivot around a common top axis—enable the more precise measurement of outside diameters required by metal machinists compared to ...