Forget body piercing and tattoos, the trends of the past millennium. The latest trend to hit Netherlands in the wake of growing body art popularity is called eye jewelry, and is exactly what it sounds like. The technique, developed by the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery in 2002, is used to implant tiny pieces of platinum about 3.5 mm wide in the mucous membrane of the eyeball.

The procedure is done under local anesthetic, and costs about 500 to 1,000 euros. Designs range from a glittering half-moon to a heart.

"In my view it is a little more subtle than (body) piercing. It is a bit of a fun thing and a very personal thing for people," said Gerrit Melles, director of the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery. "So far we have not seen any side effects or complications and we don't expect any in the future." he told Reuters.

So far, the NIIOS has conducted the surgery on six women and one man. However, the institute said it has a waiting list of people who want the implant.