Kathryn Vincent
I scoured Amazon and the internet for simple and easy-to-read watches, looking for certain features and reading reviews, which takes more time than one would like to calculate. If you want watches with bells and whistles there are millions. If you want a watch that someone with low vision and/or memory problems/dementia can read, not so many. It’s sad when you get right down to it, but I expect it’s because those not needing exotic interfaces just use their cell phone to check the time.Dad’s watch broke, so I needed to replace it. He’s 87 with diminishing eyesight, memory problems, ad encroaching dementia. Dad has 4 or 5 clocks in his room, but can’t handle not having a watch on top of all the clocks and an over-sized timer that can break your eardrums. (When we moved him out of his house, he had so many clocks it wasn’t funny, often more than one on a surface.)All I wanted was a clearly readable time, plus the date and day of the week in a hopefully reliable watch. I narrowed my search down to three watches that varied in cost from $13 to $70. We leaned toward digital because I read that as their memory got worse, people often become unable to understand the analog clock face and benefit from just having the actual time in digits.Of these three watches, two are outstanding, and one is good if the person’s vision is still good enough. I expect that all will require us to set the time if it should need changing for any reason. I’m giving Dad all three, although the first two in the list were immediate hits.Here are the watches and why I chose them: Reizen Low-Vision Ana-Digit Atomic Watch - Leather Band Pros – Very easy to read analog face, atomic so it will keep itself set, digital day and date that will adjust itself correctly, battery-operated so doesn’t need winding. Dad thought it was absolutely beautiful.Cons – leather band that someone with impaired coordination can’t put on. We replaced the band with a silver and gold stainless steel twist-a-flex/expansion band. The day/date display could be larger. The directions are absolutely horrid. We’ll have to do any adjustments, as it takes us a bit to get some of it figured out. And trying to get the second hand to stop precisely on the 12, as required by some steps. Yeah, good luck with that! Men's Digital Sports Watch LED Screen Large Face Military Watches and Waterproof Casual Luminous Stopwatch Alarm Simple Army Watch - Black Pros – The first thing Dad said about this watch was that he could read it without squinting. And he’s right, just a beautiful clear bright display. Easy enough to set. Cheap; if this watch breaks easily, I could get one a month for Dad without stressing. Surprisingly enough, Dad – who’s rather conservative – may actually like this watch more than the Reizen, even though the Reizen is more attractive. I think it’s that the time is just so incredibly easy to read.Cons – Plastic band that someone with impaired coordination can’t put on and that will make some folks’ arms sweat. We replaced the band with a black stainless steel twist-a-flex/expansion band. That changed the looks of the watch immensely. It went from a plain huge hunk of plastic to a cool military type watch. So win/win for another $8 or so. Timex Men's T78587 Classic Digital Silver-Tone Stainless Steel Expansion Band Watch Pros – exactly the type of interface we wanted. Simple display with date, day, and time. All digital. So far so good. The bright display background makes digits more visible, plus there’s a light. It came with a twist-a-flex/expandable metal band making it easy to put on, unlike the others which came with latched bands.Cons – the display/digits are smaller than optimum. This watch can’t be read easily by a person with low vision. That said, Dad can read it with a bit of squinting. It’s sad, because otherwise this would be the perfect watch for Dad, but the smaller display makes this the lesser of the three watches. So far, Dad likes it the least.We bought twist-a-flex/expandable metal bands at Walmart and also ordered Gilden Gents Expansion 17-22mm Black Stainless Steel Watch Band 552-B-3 on Amazon. A slip-on watch is a must for those with diminished coordination.Overall, we like all three watches and would buy them all again with the caveats above. We’re leaving all three with Dad so he can rotate through them to see which one he likes the best or just to change what he’s wearing, since he’s always loved watches.Should any watch not perform up to expectations, I will amend this review.
