13 Best Easy To Read Watches For Seniors (Updated)

Looking for a watch? Easy To Read Watches For Seniors? The legibility of a watch is the main factor in selecting a watch for seniors. Mechanical watches are known to have legibility that makes it easy to read time at a glance.

As you get older, the vision tends not to be as good as it used to be, and with that said, it can be a bit difficult to read the time on a watch sometimes unless the markers are big and the watch has good contrast.

Digital watches can be complicated for elderly people to understand, as they must press or scroll through screens to determine the time.

Another essential feature of senior friendly watches is its ease-of-use features, such as numbers and hands that are large and visible and not too many buttons. Ease of setting the time, from tiny pin dials to small buttons, it can be difficult for a senior citizen struggling with arthritis or limited mobility to set the time on a watch, and in some cases, even to understand the functionality. When possible, try to choose a watch where it is easy to set the time. Don't forget, when selecting a watch out of the easy-to-read watches for seniors, it's essential to consider the age of the person it is intended for and what type of watch they are familiar with.

Some watches are designed to speak the time audibly, but this feature may not benefit those with impaired hearing.

Battery Life. Picking senior friendly watches can be challenging, but we've found that the best watches are those with long battery lives. Longer life in most cases means they'll need to change their batteries less often. Look for watches with long battery life. If you look for a quartz movement, generally, Digital watches have a longer life because they use less energy.

Today we have new watches like the medical alert varieties, but will the wearer be comfortable? Or will it add stress by trying to understand it? Some watches may be brilliant, but can the wearer operate them?

The most crucial practical factor is functionality! But if you are interested in a deeper understanding of watches for seniors, you can find it in the section Understanding Watches.   

Best And Easy To Read Women Watch

Easy To Read Watches For Senior Men

Digital Watch For Elderly Men With Large Display

Understanding Watches - Your Watch Features

For many, a watch seems to have a deeper meaning than just keeping time. Watches mark special occasions, they tell the world a bit about who you are, and they can, if you’re lucky, connect you to the people in your life who matter most.

As you know, there are many ways to choose a watch; the three principal factors are personal taste, budget, and functionality. I will try to help you by mentioning a few points that you should consider when you choose your next watch.

I admit there is a long way in front of us, covered with many watches, so let’s get started!

My guide intends to empower you and give you the tools to make the right decision.

What Type Of Movement?

Watches are divided into three main categories based on the type of “movement”, in simple words, what makes the watch TICK.

Mechanical movement

Here is a short explanation of how a mechanical movement watch works.

 The energy which drives the mechanism is a spring which we wind. The wound-up spring releases energy to a series of gears; those gears move the second's hand, which in turn will drive the minute's hand and finally the hour's hand. The mechanical watch was developed around the 17th century.

The accuracy of this watch depends on the craftsmanship of the wheels, gears, and spring. Particles of dust will get into the case with time, and the watch will have to be periodically cleaned inside by a watchmaker. One can read a detailed explanation how a mechanical watch works, and a nice simulation of a mechanical watch can be seen here.

Pros

• The main advantage of this movement is that there is no need for an external power source like a battery or sunlight.
• Smooth sweeping movement of the second's hand.

Cons

• Winding is necessary.
• It can be very vulnerable to dust, moisture, shocks, and magnetism.
• Accuracy issues as it gets older and needs to be serviced.
• The price goes up with the quality of the craftsmanship.

Automatic movement

These watches started between 1922 and 1931. The automatic watch is self-winding – at its heart, it is a mechanical watch. The winding is done by a weight that moves with the movement of your wrist. The movement of the weight winds the spring.

When fully wound, the watch will last around 40 hours.

In mechanical watches, there is a function called hacking. When you pull the “crown” out, the clock stops, allowing you to set it accurately – this is called hacking.

One can find a detailed explanation here.

If you don’t wear your automatic watch, you can mount it in a “watch winder”. This way, the watch will not stop, and functions such as the calendar will be updated, saving you from having to reset the watch if you did not use it for a few days.

Pros

• No need to wind it.

• Same smooth movement as the mechanical watch.

• No need for a battery or sunlight.

Cons

• The automatic watch will require service. The service can be more expensive than the service of a mechanical watch.

• Some automatic watches don’t have hand winding, and that is preferable.

• It needs to be stored in a watch winder.

• The quality of craftsmanship and engineering means the watch is more expensive.

Electronic/Quartz

Quartz and batteries: quartz has a property called piezoelectricity. When electrical power is applied to quartz, the quartz vibrates accurately and forms part of an oscillator which is the “tuning fork” of the watch. Quartz watches “tick” from second to second while mechanical watches move smoothly.

Wikipedia gives a very profound explanation how a quartz watch works. 

You can find quartz watches with three main types of dials – Digital display, Analog display, and a combination of Digital and Analog.

Pros

• Accuracy is much higher because it requires fewer mechanical components, and the quarts system improves accuracy.

• It needs less maintenance and is more durable because of the same reason – fewer mechanical components.

• Price is generally much lower.

Cons

• No smooth movement of the second's hand.

What Complications/Features you Want?

You have to look at the function of the new watch in your life, for example, is it a sports watch or a watch that you want to wear for a special occasion.

What features, or sometimes called “complications”, would you like the watch to have. Some of the features which I will mention can be found across different functionalities.

For example, if you want your watch to display the date, one can find this  feature across all the ranges of watches. A heart rate monitor you will find only in the quartz – smartwatches.

So, I will start explaining some of the features:

Complications/Features

Alarm – you can set an alarm time.

Calendar – some watches will display the day of the week and day of the month; others will display only the day of the month.

Moon phase – the watch will track the moon cycle through sophisticated engineering with some truly eye-catching designs.

Chronograph - is an independent time system that creates a stopwatch with a start, stop, and reset buttons. The chronograph can come with a tachymeter (a scale around the rim of the watch), and together they can be used to do calculations of speed, distance, and alike.

In the electronic quartz watches, you can find the following features:

Calculator – Casio was one of the first brands to introduce calculators

Altimeter – determines the altitude at your current location.

Barometer – measures atmospheric pressure (can be found in Garmin watches)

Atomic timekeeping / Atomic watches –a watch calibrated by radio signals receives its signal from an Atomic time-keeping system existing at different institutions. Those Atomic time systems measure oscillations of an atom and divide it down into seconds. If you are in an area where you can’t receive the signal, you lose your calibration/accuracy.

Blood pressure, Heart rate – the AGPTEK Fitness Tracker smartwatch will accurately record your all-day activities and state of health, including steps, distance, calories, sleep status, dynamic and static blood pressure, and heart rate.

SMS – the Samsung Galaxy Watch allows you to create and send a text message.

Bluetooth – some Smartwatches allow you to pair with Bluetooth devices like your phone, and the watch can help you place calls or send and receive messages.     

Dress or Classic Watch

This watch is mainly for special occasions; it is usually simplistic in appearance and sophisticated. The case can be circular, rectangular, or square. I prefer the rectangular one with a leather strap. The face dial can display saber-style indexes, Roman numbers, or Arabic numbers. In structure, it will be a thin watch.

I would include in this category the Luxury watches like ROLEX, OMEGA, and TAG HEUER.

The Boutique watches like Carl F. Bucherer, Greubel Forsey, Armin Strom, Lang & Heyne and

Designer Watches like CHANEL, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Hugo Boss, and Louis Vuitton.

Diving watches

Probably the most famous one is the ROLEX Submarine.

• The main feature of the watch is its water resistance. We expect the watch to be certified for a minimum depth of 100 m.

• The watch is made of corrosion-resistant metals like stainless steel or titanium.

• The watch’s face will be bold and easy to read; the glass is made from sapphire or hardened mineral.

• The band will be metal and longer than usual as it has to fit over bulky diving gear.

Aviation watches

A bit of history on Aviation watches: The Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pioneer of early aviation. His friend, Louis Cartier, a watchmaker, had created a watch specifically for Santos-Dumont to help him tell time while flying. Cartier invented a small timepiece attached to the wrist with a leather strap. He called the new timepiece “Cartier Santos-Dumont”. He gave the wristwatch to his famous aviator friend, who never flew without it again.

Features of this watch:

• Medium to large size.

• Easy to read in a dark cockpit, since usually, the dial is black with white numbering.

• In the past more than today, the watch was exposed to dramatic changes in temperature and pressure.

• Complications will be a chronograph.

• I suppose today’s pilot will choose his watch to be a Garmin D2 Bravo Titanium Pilot Watch.

Racing watches

Racing watches started appearing in the 1930s; one of them was the Rolex Oyster. TAG Heuer created the next-generation racing watch. That set the standard by adding a chronograph and tachymeter. And as everybody knows, Steve McQueen wore their Monaco 1133 in the 1971 film, Le Mans.

• Medium to large size.
• Easy to read.
• Two features define a good race watch: a chronograph and a tachymeter. 

Sport/Fitness/Outdoor watches

• Easy to read.
• Complications: stopwatch functionality.
• Water-resistant to at least 100 m.
• Double safety clasp.
• Shock resistant.

Tactical/Military/Survival/G-Shock

• Durability and Ruggedness. Shock resistance, water resistance, and scratch resistance are essential.
• Reliability. Whether quartz-powered or automatic, we can’t rely on a mechanical movement that can be damaged by shock.
• Dark and non-reflective surfaces, this is why some militaries require their soldiers to cover their watches.
• Easy to read, digital watch.
• Extras can be stopwatch functionality, timers, temperature readings, and GPS, which can be extremely useful in the field.

1. Casio G-Shock.
2. Suunto Core All Black Military Men's Outdoor Sports Watch.
3. Garmin tactix Delta.

SmartWatch

In this category, you will find all the different

Garmin series with GPS, blood pressure, heart rate, music 3-axis compass.

Fitbit Versa 2 Health and Fitness Smartwatch with Heart Rate, Music, Alexa Built-In, Sleep and Swim Tracking, easy to read watch, Petal/Copper Rose.

Apple Series 5 - Smartwatch, music, track your workouts, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometric altimeter, electrical heart sensor, GPS/GNSS, gyroscope, improved accelerometer up to 32 g‑forces, optical heart sensor.

Fossil Hybrid Smartwatches are compatible with Android(TM) and iOS 9.0+ devices. 

Samsung – galaxy smartwatch – with sleep tracking, fitness, heart-rate monitoring.

If you are looking for special safety features, here are some options.

best fitness tracker

As we age, staying active is essential for maintaining our fitness levels. A fitness tracking watch can help you monitor your progress and keep track of your metrics, like steps taken and calories burned. This information may encourage most seniors to stay active.

Fitbit Charge 5 Advanced Fitness & Health Tracker

Fitbit Charge 5 Advanced Fitness & Health Tracker with Built-in GPS, Stress Management Tools, Sleep Tracking, 24/7 Heart Rate.

automatic fall detection

Did you know that some watches have sensors that can detect when the wearer has fallen? In case you fall, the watch will send an "alert" to a person of your choice or to the emergency services.

SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 4, 40mm Smartwatch with ECG Monitor Tracker for Health, Fitness, Running, Sleep Cycles, GPS Fall Detection, Bluetooth, US Version.

SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 4 Classic 46mm Smartwatch with ECG Monitor Tracker for Health, Fitness, Running, Sleep Cycles, GPS Fall Detection, Bluetooth, US Version, Black.

FAQ About Easy To Read Watches For Seniors

Which Smartwatch Has Fall Detection?

Since the Apple Watch 4, Apple has included a fall detection algorithm. And since the prior Apple Watch 3, you can hold down the button on the side of the Apple Watch and have the product dial 911 in case of emergency. 

Can Samsung Watch Detect Falls?

Yes, a new health and safety feature introduced by Galaxy Watch3 is Fall Detection. The enhanced accelerometer on your watch can detect hard falls and activate an alert system asking if you need emergency assistance. If you do not respond within the timeframe, Galaxy Watch3 automatically alerts the authorities and your emergency contact to get help. The Galaxy Watch3 can act as your caretaker and a safety response system.

ENJOY the watch that you choose!