Best watches for grandfathers

A plain field dial with no sub-registers and nothing on it to interpret — the simplest layout here that still has sapphire in front of it. The E101 is a three-hand movement, so there is no second time zone, no chronograph and no calendar window competing for the same space.

It runs on light. No winding, no battery changes, no watchmaker visit for a dead cell, and no reset after a fortnight in a drawer. For a watch that has to survive being picked up rather than worn daily, that is the whole argument.

Super Titanium is Citizen's surface-hardened titanium: lighter than steel and more scratch-resistant than plain titanium. On a 42mm case that difference is noticeable on the wrist, which is more use than another spec line.

The honest costs. Citizen publishes no service prices and quotes repairs after inspection, and for this reference it publishes neither the thickness, the lug-to-lug nor the band width — so you cannot check the footprint or buy a strap for it in advance. That is why it scores 7.2 rather than higher.

Sapphire is the upgrade the 37mm Chandler never got, on a Super Titanium case with Citizen's five years of cover. Citizen publishes neither the thickness, the lug-to-lug nor the band width for this reference, so try it on before you commit to 42mm.

If sheer dial size is what decides legibility, this is the answer: a 44mm diver's case, among the largest on this site, running Citizen's three-hand E168 — so one set of hands and nothing else on the dial.

Light-powered again, with 200m of water resistance and a 20mm standard lug width, so a strap in any length is a cheap fix if what it comes on does not suit him.

The crystal is the compromise and it is a real one: Citizen fits mineral here, which collects scratches you cannot remove. On a 44mm slab of glass that is a cost you will eventually see, and it is the main reason this scores 6.8.

Identical to the BN0150 in every specification Citizen publishes. Choose on the dial, and on nothing else.

The only mechanical pick on this page, and the one with the highest Keep Score at 8.6: a 42mm pilot's case with sapphire, 100m, and both the day and the date on the dial, which is one fewer thing to work out.

Hamilton fits the same Nivachron balance spring as the Khaki Field line and the H-40 runs 80 hours, so it survives a weekend off the wrist without stopping. The 20mm lug width is standard.

The condition is in the heading. This is an automatic: leave it for four days and it stops, and then it needs winding and setting. If that is a chore rather than a ritual, buy one of the light-powered picks above instead.

Hamilton publishes a European service price list and no US equivalent, so you cannot price an overhaul before buying.

Hamilton fits the same Nivachron hairspring here as on the Khaki Field line, and the H-40 runs 80 hours. Sapphire and 100m on a watch this legible is the pilot-watch specification sheet most of the category never manages.

This one never needs setting at all. It synchronizes to a radio time signal, runs on light, and carries a perpetual calendar, so the date is right through February without anybody touching the crown. For some people that is genuinely delightful.

Sapphire, 200m and a 22mm standard lug width, with Citizen's five years of cover. At 8.3 it is the highest-scoring light-powered watch on this site.

Two reasons it is fourth and not first. By Citizen's own description the U680 carries a chronograph, a perpetual calendar and a dual-time display on one 45mm dial — the busiest layout on this site, and the opposite of what the first two criteria on this page ask for. And it is a module rather than a movement: when Citizen stops making the U680, the watch is finished however good the case still is.

It sets itself by radio, runs on light and is rated to 200m behind sapphire — and it is a module, not a movement. When the module stops being made, the watch is finished, however good the case still is.

At 36mm with a published 44.5mm lug-to-lug, this is the smallest case on the site — the pick for a thinner wrist, which is a more common problem in this bracket than people expect.

Solar, so it keeps the no-maintenance argument, with sapphire and 100m. The 18mm lug width is standard and the fabric strap is the lightest option here.

Timex states one year of warranty and explicitly excludes the crystal, the strap, the case and the battery, which is most of what fails. It publishes no caliber and no service pricing. It scores 6.6, and all of that gap is warranty and transparency rather than specification.

The smallest genuinely good watch here. Sapphire, solar, 100m and 44.5mm across the lugs — if you have a small wrist and want to stop thinking about batteries, start here.

37mm, 18mm lugs, 100m, five years of cover and no battery to change. There is very little here to go wrong and almost nothing that will date — it is the Garrison's argument in a smaller, cheaper case.

The crystal is mineral rather than sapphire, which is the upgrade the Garrison got and this did not, and Citizen publishes no thickness or lug-to-lug for it either.

Citizen sells this one directly rather than through Amazon, so the link below goes to Citizen and earns us nothing. We would rather tell you where it is than pretend it is not available.

37mm, 18mm lugs, 100m, no battery, five years of cover. There is very little here to go wrong and almost nothing that will date.