Horological Meandering

Brandon Skinner
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My friend Greg and The Bradley

My dear friend Greg has had a very difficult time seeing ever since birth, and his sight continued to diminish until he went completely blind 4 or 5 years ago. Greg used to work in the watch and jewelry business and has a true love for timepieces. In fact, it was Greg who introduced me to watches 15 years ago and is the reason why I am so passionate about horology today.

When I discovered the Eone Bradley Kickstarter campaign, I knew instantly I had to purchase this for him. Thankfully the Kickstarter campaign was well funded and the watches went into production. I was notified by Eone that the watches had been produced and delivery was set for the week before Christmas. As luck would have it, not only did the Bradley arrive in time for Christmas, but on the day of his Birthday!

Going into the evening of his Birthday party, I thought to myself it was great that he could own both a seriously handsome timepiece as well as something so functional for someone who could not see. I never knew how far beyond these realms this watch would go. Upon receiving the gift, Greg clued me in to how important something like this for a blind and married man! For us sighted people, when we wake up in the middle of the night, we have the luxury to look at our clocks and know it's 3am and time to go back to bed. But for Greg, the only way he could know the time was to press his bedside clock which verbally announces the time- thus waking up his wife. This same scenario plays out all the time for Greg anywhere he finds himself where it would be inappropriate to make noise.

Personally speaking, I think the Bradley is a gorgeous watch which perfectly executes what it's designer intended. The funny thing is I can think of dozens of Swiss brands that do not offer watches half as nice looking as the Bradley (and we know the prices for some of these uglies). I would love to see the people at Eone collaborate with the people at Debethune... imagine that!

Thanks all for reading and especially to the brilliant and compassionate people at Eone for making an incredible timepiece for the blind and sighted alike.

Here's Greg and his new watch!