Spellbound
1343
First deliveries of a new watch from an exciting new company
Dec 10, 2013,00:04 AM
A few months ago I told you about an exciting new project that was raising funds through Kickstarter. The project was a watch for the visually impaired, inspired and named after Lt. Brad Snyder, a heroic bomb disposal operator who unfortunately lost his sight from an IED explosion whilst serving in Afghanistan in what I imagine was a scene from "The Hurt Locker". Brad went on to win two Gold medals and a Silver at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London for swimming and currently holds the world record for the 400m and 100m freestyle for full visually impaired.
Failing to raise funds through traditional sources, a talented group of individuals headed by a recent MIT Sloan School of Management graduate, Hyungsoo Kim, turned to Kickstarter for funds. Within a couple of weeks of launching, the team blew past their initial funding goal of $40,000 needed to initiate the project, raising more than $500,000. In the last few weeks, those that were lucky enough to be part of the first funders received the first batch of watches delivered all around the world. Mine just arrived in China today.
This watch has no glass face allowing the wearer to "feel" the correct time through the use of magnetized ball bearings, much like the ones used in Christophe Claret's visionary Pinball watch. The ball bearing on the dial of the watch indicates the minutes, with the ball bearing on the side, the hours. The watch comes with raised hour markers, enabling the user to easily read the time. The movement is Swiss Quartz, and the timepiece is waterproof to 50m. Needless to say that the watch can also quite easily be read visually.
The watch is brought to you by Eone Time. This particular piece though, is not for me, much as I'd love to keep it in my collection. When I took part in the funding, I promised myself to donate this watch to the first visually impaired person I met on the streets of Shanghai.
Dean
Nice packaging with braille inserts