How to Play with the Diving Watch Bezel?

In addition to its beautiful appearance and durability, the most interesting feature of a diver's watch is its rotating bezel. The rotating bezel can be said to be the iconic characteristic of a diver's watch.  Specifically, the rotating bezel of a diver's watch serves the function of reminding the diver of the elapsed dive time. The marking scales of common rotating bezels are usually 15, 30 and 45, this is because a general scuba tank can only sustain a dive of 30 to 45 minutes. Some diver's watches mark the first 15 minutes of the rotating bezel with a special color or special identifier, this is because divers will strictly follow the rule of making a 15-minute safety stop during ascent for decompression, so when this period of time has passed, you can head back.

  Using a diver's watch bezel is very simple. Usually, you just need to turn the rotating bezel before diving, align the 0 mark on the rotating bezel with the minute hand, then you can read the elapsed dive time by checking which scale on the bezel corresponds to the minute hand as it moves.

  The rotating bezel of a diver's watch is unidirectional counter-clockwise rotating, and not all rotating bezels can only rotate counter-clockwise. Strictly speaking, some bezels with bidirectional rotation available on the market are not for real diver's watches. Why do we say that? For example, if a counter-clockwise only rotating bezel is accidentally moved or touched and rotated during a dive, it will only remind you to surface earlier, which poses no big danger. But if you wear a watch with a bidirectional rotating bezel, and the bezel is accidentally rotated clockwise during the dive, the elapsed dive time that has already been counted will be reset to zero, which is extremely dangerous for divers. Bidirectional rotating bezels are mainly used for timing other activities, such as timing the period a sailboat takes to travel between two buoys, they are not designed for diving.

  In 1953, Blancpain launched the Fifty Fathoms diver's watch, which was also the first watch equipped with a counter-clockwise rotating bezel, and Blancpain applied for a patent for this design. Around the same time, Rolex launched its first Rolex Submariner, but the Submariner was not officially equipped with a counter-clockwise rotating bezel until after the expiration of Blancpain's patent protection in the 1980s.

  As a core component of diver's watches, various brands have made great efforts on diver's bezels, from materials to craftsmanship. For example, the well-known Rolex "Submariner" series uses high-tech ceramic material for the bezel. Since ceramic is corrosion-resistant, scratch-resistant and lightweight, it has basically become the standard configuration for modern diver's watches. This year, Omega launched a new Seamaster Planet Ocean that adopts the fusion technology of rubber and ceramic bezel, and Blancpain launched the new Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe that adopts the fusion technology of ceramic bezel and liquid metal scale. These processes are more complex and the resulting bezels are more beautiful.

  Of course, the external counter-clockwise rotating bezel also has disadvantages. After all, it is not integrally formed with the case, but is fixed on top of the case. The tiny gap between the bezel and the case easily allows fine sand to get into the gap during underwater use, which causes great damage to the watch.

  The emergence of the internal counter-clockwise rotating bezel eliminates this hidden danger. For example, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph places the counter-clockwise rotating bezel inside the crystal and integrates it with the dial, and it is adjusted through a specially designed crown. This design not only keeps sand out, but the rotating waterproof crown also prevents accidental rotation of the bezel underwater after the crown is locked, making it safe and reliable.

  In addition, IWC has a case design with internal and external rotating bezels. It combines the advantages of the internal rotating bezel with the easy operability of the external bezel. The operation is more convenient: even when wearing diving gloves or when your fingers are cold, you can still set the time accurately by minute. Also for safety considerations, it only allows rotation in the counter-clockwise direction. In this way, even if the bezel is accidentally adjusted, it can still ensure that the zero position will not make the required time exceed the maximum safe time for divers to surface without decompression. (Photo/Text Watch Home Dong Hang)