Crave Review: The Vibrator You Can Wear to Dinner

Vesper: the necklace

The Vesper is a stainless steel pendant, about 3.5 inches long, that hangs on a chain and vibrates. It comes in silver, rose gold, and 24k gold-plated versions ranging from $69 to $149. The chain is included. You charge it via a USB cap that screws off the top. Turn it on by twisting the base. Four speeds.

As a piece of jewelry, the Vesper is exceptional. The proportions are right. The weight feels intentional, not heavy, not flimsy. The silver version has a brushed finish that catches light without screaming for attention. I wore it every day for a week and got compliments from three different people who had zero idea what it actually was. Daniel knew, obviously, and the running joke became whether anyone at dinner would figure it out. Nobody did.

As a vibrator, though. Okay. The Vesper vibrates. Technically. The motor inside a slim stainless steel tube produces a buzz that I'd describe as "polite." On its highest setting, it's roughly equivalent to the lowest setting on a Satisfyer bullet. If you're using it for foreplay, for teasing, for a warm-up act before the main event, it works. It's a pleasant, focused vibration against skin that feels different from silicone because the steel conducts the sensation differently.

But if you're expecting this to get you to orgasm on its own, adjust your expectations. I tried. Multiple sessions, different angles, plenty of patience. The motor just doesn't have the power. It's like trying to blow-dry your hair with a desk fan. The concept is there. The output isn't. A $30 bullet vibe from any beginner vibrator list will outperform it for actual stimulation.

And I think Crave knows this. The marketing doesn't really position the Vesper as a standalone vibrator. It's positioned as wearable pleasure, a secret, an identity piece. In that framing, it succeeds completely. You're buying a necklace with a party trick, not a vibrator with a chain. Once I stopped evaluating it against my Dame Pom and started evaluating it against my other necklaces, my opinion shifted. It's the most interesting piece of jewelry I own.

“The Vesper is the only sex toy that has been through a full night out, two bars and a birthday toast, without anyone noticing. I felt incredible.”

— Sasha, on confidence accessories

The charging situation is the one design flaw I can't excuse. The USB cap that screws onto the top is small, metallic, and determined to disappear. I lost mine within a week and had to email Crave for a replacement. They sent one free, which was generous, but the fact that losing a tiny cap renders your $79 necklace unchargeable is a design failure from a company that prides itself on design. A magnetic charging solution would fix this overnight.

Duet: the vibrator

If the Vesper is Crave's showpiece, the Duet is their workhorse. And it surprised me.

The Duet is a dual-motor vibrator, about five inches long, shaped like a slim wand with a flared tip. The line runs $109 (Flex) to $179 (Pro), and it comes in silver or rose gold finishes. Silicone tip over an ABS plastic body. Four vibration modes. USB rechargeable with a proper magnetic charging cable (they learned from the Vesper, apparently).

Two motors: one in the tip and one in the base. They run simultaneously by default, and the combined vibration creates this resonance through the whole body of the toy that feels fuller than you'd expect from something this compact. The tip motor is stronger and more focused. The base motor adds a background rumble that radiates into your hand and, depending on how you're holding it, into whatever body part is nearby.

I was skeptical because the Vesper had calibrated my expectations for Crave's motor power at roughly "electric toothbrush." The Duet is a different animal. Not a powerhouse by any means, but satisfying in ways I didn't expect for focused clitoral stimulation. The slim profile makes it easy to use during partnered sex without it getting in the way, which is a real consideration that bulkier toys fail at.

He and I used it together over a weekend and the feedback loop was useful. Between bodies, the Duet's thin profile meant neither of us had to contort into weird angles to maintain clitoral contact during penetration. That's a problem I've had with wider vibrators where someone always ends up uncomfortable. The Duet just slips into the gap and stays there.

Battery life is about an hour on full power, which is adequate. The silicone tip is smooth, body-safe, and easy to clean. The build quality feels premium in a way that matches the price point. Nothing rattles, nothing feels hollow. The power button is recessed enough that you won't accidentally turn it on in a bag, but not so recessed that you fumble for it in the dark.

Where the Duet falls short is the same place most Crave products do: the competition. For Duet money, you could get a We-Vibe Tango X, which is smaller, stronger, and comes from a brand with decades of motor engineering. You could get a Dame Pom for $95 and have that squishy, enveloping vibration that the Duet can't replicate. The Duet is good. It's not $119 good in a vacuum. It's $119 good if you value the design language, the dual-motor concept, and the slim form factor specifically.

Wink & Solo

The Wink+ ($89) is shaped like a lipstick tube. Rose gold cap, smooth body, satisfying click when you open it. This is the second-most discreet toy in Crave's lineup after the Vesper, and it's better at being a vibrator than the Vesper is.

Single motor, four speeds, about the size of an actual lipstick. You could drop this in a makeup bag and nobody would look twice. The vibration is focused at the tip and it's surprisingly buzzy for something this small. Not enough power for everyone, but enough for a travel companion or a toy to keep in a purse. At $89, it's Crave's most accessible price point and the product I'd recommend to someone curious about the brand but not ready to commit $79-$119.

The Bullet (around $69) is Crave's basic bullet. Stainless steel body, no pretense about being anything other than what it is. It's a fine bullet vibe. The stainless steel makes it feel more substantial than plastic bullets at the same price. But the bullet market is so crowded with capable options at $20-40 that the Solo doesn't stand out beyond its build material.

Both of these products share a frustrating limitation: no vibration patterns. Just four steady speeds via twist activation. In a world where even $25 vibrators offer pulsing, escalating, and wave patterns, Crave's insistence on simplicity feels less like minimalist design philosophy and more like a hardware constraint they haven't addressed.

Design philosophy

Ti Chang trained as an industrial designer and worked in mainstream product design before co-founding Crave in the early 2010s. That background shows in everything the company makes. Where most sex toy designers start with a motor and build an enclosure around it, Chang starts with an object and asks whether it can also vibrate.

That inversion of priorities is the key to understanding Crave. Every product is an object first and a vibrator second. The Vesper is a pendant that vibrates. The Wink is a lipstick that vibrates. The Duet is a slim wand that happens to have two motors. Nothing in the lineup looks like a sex toy. Nothing screams. Nothing glows neon purple.

I found an interview where Chang talked about the shame women feel buying sex toys, the ugly designs, the embarrassing packaging. Crave's answer is to remove the shame by removing the visual markers. If your vibrator looks like a necklace, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's just jewelry. The vibration is your business.

This philosophy produces some trade-offs that aren't immediately obvious. Stainless steel is beautiful and body-safe and lasts forever. It's also a terrible material for housing a vibration motor, because rigid metal transmits vibration harshly rather than absorbing and distributing it the way medical-grade silicone does. That's why the Vesper's vibration feels sharp and buzzy instead of deep and rumbly. The material that makes it wearable is the same material that limits its function.

The Duet partially solves this by using a silicone tip over a rigid body. Smart compromise. You get the aesthetic of a metal object with the vibration quality of silicone where it matters most. I wish the Vesper had a similar hybrid approach, maybe a removable silicone sleeve that slides over the tip for when you're using it at home rather than wearing it out. That might be an engineering headache, but it would solve the power problem without sacrificing the jewelry look.

“Ti Chang looked at every vibrator on the market and thought 'what if it was beautiful?' Nobody had asked that question before. Twelve years later, almost nobody else is asking it.”

— Sasha, on Crave's design philosophy

Materials & safety

Crave's material choices are excellent across the board. The Vesper uses 316L stainless steel, the same grade used in surgical instruments and high-end watches. It's non-porous, hypoallergenic, and will outlast every silicone toy you own. You can sterilize it by boiling it (remove the motor assembly first, obviously). The rose gold and 24k gold versions use plating over the same base steel.

The Duet combines a body-safe ABS plastic body with a platinum-cured silicone tip. Both materials are non-porous and free of phthalates. The silicone has a smooth matte finish that doesn't attract lint, which puts it ahead of some glossier competitors. The Wink uses the same ABS construction with a metallic coating.

Cleaning is simple. The Vesper and Bullet can be wiped down with toy cleaner or washed with warm water and mild soap. The stainless steel means you don't have to worry about degrading the surface. The Duet's silicone tip should be cleaned with toy-safe cleaner rather than harsh soaps that can break down silicone over time, but it's no more demanding than any other silicone toy.

Waterproofing varies. The Vesper is splash-proof but not submersible; the USB charging cap doesn't create a watertight seal. The Duet is rated for full waterproofing with its magnetic charging port. If bath use matters, the Duet is your option. The Vesper should stay dry, which is another argument for treating it as jewelry with benefits rather than a vibrator you can take anywhere.

Crave vs the competition

Crave doesn't have a direct competitor because nobody else makes wearable vibrator jewelry at this quality level. But each individual product competes in a crowded field.

Vesper vs everything else in the "discreet" category: nothing matches it. Dame makes toys that don't look like toys, but you can't wear a Dame Pom around your neck. The Vesper owns this niche completely. If wearability is your priority, the conversation starts and ends here.

Duet vs We-Vibe Tango X: the Tango X is smaller, significantly more powerful, and costs less ($85 vs $109+). If raw vibration quality is all you care about, the Tango X wins. The Duet's advantage is its dual-motor design and slimmer profile for use during sex. If you're specifically looking for a couples-play vibrator that fits between bodies, the Duet has a case. For solo use, the Tango X is the better buy.

Duet vs Dame Pom: the Pom ($95) has that squishy, flexible silicone body that spreads vibration across a wider area. The Duet is more focused and targeted. Different sensations for different preferences. At $24 less, the Pom is better value unless the Duet's slim profile is specifically what you need. Both brands share a design-first mentality, so if aesthetics matter to you, either is a good choice.

Crave vs LELO: LELO plays the luxury card harder and has the product range to back it up. Crave has four products. LELO has dozens. If you want options, LELO wins by default. But LELO's aesthetic has grown stale, and nothing in their lineup is wearable the way the Vesper is. Crave feels more modern, more conceptual. LELO feels like a luxury brand that peaked in 2017.

The uncomfortable comparison: Crave vs a nice necklace and a cheap bullet vibe. You could buy a $50 silver pendant from a jewelry shop and a $25 bullet vibrator from Satisfyer and have both functions covered for the same price as a Vesper. You'd get a prettier necklace and a more powerful vibrator. What you wouldn't get is the thrill of wearing a secret in public, the single-object elegance of it all, the knowledge that you're wearing something subversive under a blazer. That intangible is Crave's entire product.

Pricing & value

Four core products, four price points. The Bullet around $69. The Wink+ at $89. The Vesper 2 from $109 depending on finish. The Duet line from $109 (Flex) to $179 (Pro). The precious-metal Vesper finishes climb higher, and I'd skip those unless you're buying a collector's piece.

At $79, the silver Vesper is reasonably priced for what it is. A stainless steel pendant on a chain from a comparable jewelry brand would cost the same or more, and those don't vibrate. The rose gold at $99 pushes it. The 24k gold at $149 is for people who want the story more than the function, and that's a valid reason to buy something.

The Duet pricing is where I pause. It's a good vibrator in a category where good isn't enough to stand out. For $20-30 less you can get stronger, more feature-rich options from Dame or We-Vibe. The Duet justifies its price only if the specific combination of slim profile, dual motors, and Crave's design language matters to you. If you're just shopping for clitoral stimulation, better options exist at lower prices.

The Wink+ at $89 is the sleeper value. Discreet, functional enough for light use, and reasonable enough that you won't agonize over the purchase. If someone asked me "what's the cheapest Crave product worth buying?" the answer is the Wink+, not the Bullet.

“At $79, the Vesper is a steal for a stainless steel necklace. At $79, it's overpriced for a vibrator. The trick is deciding which one you're buying.”

— Sasha, doing the math

Crave doesn't run frequent sales. They're a small operation and the margins are probably tight. I've seen occasional 15-20% discounts around the holidays, but don't count on catching the Vesper at half price. What you see is mostly what you pay.