If you like watches and want one that's actually useful for you then the Bradley might just be the perfect choice.

I bought the Eone Bradley Mesh silver a few days ago and have been trying it out.

So first of all this is a watch designed for blind people. It doesn't speak and it doesn't use a fragile and expensive braille display. Instead it uses a Swiss quartz movement with magnetic hands that move ball bearings along grooves. All the movement parts are inside the watch and protected by a case made of either titanium, stainless steel or aluminium, depending on what style of the watch you get. The Mesh Silver is all titanium with a mesh stainless steel band.

The face has a groove with a ball bearing in it. Surrounding it are the raised number markers with a mirror finish. Along the side of the watch is another groove with a ball bearing. The groove on the top of the watch tells the minutes and the groove on the side tells the hours.

That's a little backwards compared to literally every other watch but there is a method to the madness.

This thing looks great. The finish on the titanium is very similar to anodised aluminium but it looks perhaps a bit darker than what you would find on something like one of the older iPhones. Stainless steel is a bit flashier. You might want to try the Bradley Compass Iris if you want that Personally though I think it looks great. The lighter colour puts it firmly in unisex territory, perfectly fine by me, but there are darker colours available if you want that sort of thing.

Actually using this thing holds up just as well as its looks. As I said, the minutes are on the smaller groove. This was something I was wary about before ordering but it actually works out quite well. Yes, the groove on the side is longer and would make it easier to tell exactly what minute it is but it also takes longer to read. It's more awkward to run your finger along the side of the case. Putting the minutes in front makes a lot of sense. They're super easy to read and I was doing it well within seconds of practice.

The packaging is equally as nice. The watch ships with a cleaning cloth and a Braille instruction guide. Thank you, Bradley. This is genuinely helpful. It describes how to set the time and adjust the mesh band, as well as how to clean the watch. If Braille isn't your thing you'll still be able to find all the relevant information on Eone's FAQ page.

One interesting thing that none of the videos I watched don't talk about are the lugs. I've never seen pivoting lugs on a watch before but here they are on the Bradley. They do make the watch feels quite tall though. This thing clocks in at a case diameter of 40mm and a height of 11.5mm. It's just a bit on the chunky side. I don't think this would work with formal attire.

Still though this is a really nice watch. The titanium feels sleek and is very lightweight. It is, however, not very scratch resistant. I already got a tiny ding just below the 6 o'clock marker. I suspect it's the first of many dings to come. The watch also isn't waterproof. Eone claims that it is water resistant though. It should hold up just fine to rain and hand washings. Just don't take it for a swim or a shower. The quartz movement inside is decent quality. It uses a fairly hefty stepper motor in order to drive the magnetic hands.

Speaking of magnets, you won't need to worry about those ball bearings falling out. They can roll around freely in the grooves but they won't come out. If they are rolling freely you can simply click your wrist in order to make them stick to the magnets again. It's kind of fun sometimes.

Overall this is shaping up to be a very nice, and more importantly very useful, watch that looks and feels great.




TL;DR Eone Bradley is a watch for blind people that uses ball bearings to tell the time. It's made of Titanium and looks and feels good.