Eone Watches: The Bradley Timepiece arrives At Macrow & Son

THE BRADLEY TIMEPIECE:
Because telling time shouldn’t require sight.

Macrow & Son are extremely proud to unviel the latest collection of watches to arrive at our shop. The stunning, and revolutionary, Bradley Timepiece from Eone!

These watches don't have hands, but instead have two magnetised ballbearings representing the minute and hour indicators. As a result this enables the wearer to tell the time not just by sight, but by touch!

Simply by feeling the position of two magnetic ballbearings you are able to discern the the exact time! 

These ballbearings replace the minute and hour hands you would find on any watch dial. The ballbearing which can be seen towards the centre of the dial represents the minute hand, and the other on outer edge of the bezel being the hour indicator. These move around the dial as if they were hands themselves, so the wearer can tell the time simply just by touching the face and side of the watch.

With family, friends, and loved ones who are blind, we’re familiar with a common, yet profound problem when it comes to watches: people who are blind have been forced to choose between unstylish, imprecise tactile watches, or intrusive talking watches that let everyone know when you’re checking the time. Eone was founded to solve this problem. It started with a friendship.

The founder, Hyungsoo Kim, was a graduate student at MIT when he noticed that his friend and classmate couldn’t tell time — and it wasn’t because he was blind. Too embarrassed to use his talking watch and interrupt the lecture, he’d discreetly whisper to his sighted friend Hyungsoo for the time.

Insisting that there had to be a better watch for people with vision impairments, Hyungsoo was surprised to find that there weren’t quality alternatives to what his friend was stuck with. Pressed by the conviction that everyone has a right to time, he collaborated with designers and individuals with vision impairments to create a watch that everyone can use - sighted or blind.

Eone tackled this issue with their signature product, the Bradley timepiece: a sleek, modern watch you can both touch and see to tell time. Their humble crowdfunding campaign surpassed its goal fifteen times over, testifying to the community of support for inclusive products.

The Bradley timepiece was named after the former naval officer Bradley Snyder, who became blind while serving as a bomb defuser in Afghanistan. Brad persevered after his injury, learning how to thrive in a world that wasn’t designed for people with vision impairments.

After training for the London Paralympic Games in 2012, Brad won gold and silver medals in swimming. He competed again in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, winning 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and shattering a world record.

Eone chose Brad as their spokesperson because of his dedication to breaking down barriers for people who are blind - speaking out against stereotypes and proving that the obstacles of living with a disability come from social inequality and not from disability itself.

Along with many visually impaired users, Brad has supported and provided invaluable feedback through the development of our timepiece.