# Purpose of rotating bezel?



## SCD (May 4, 2009)

I certainly don't mean to suggest that everything in this world needs to be justified by necessity, far from it! I only ask in a spirit of genuine curiosity, I earnestly think I am missing something.

What would be some of the practical or ostensible uses of a rotating bezel on a watch such as this one?








or this one?


----------



## filmjuicer (Aug 5, 2008)

Generally, they are used to mark time. Typically elapsed time or count-down...for whatever you could think of. I'm not a diver, but I use my bezel often for timing parking, of all things!


----------



## chiko323 (May 28, 2009)

This is how I understand it; When a diver wears a watch such as the ones you show here, with a rotating bezel, they move the marker at the twelve position to a certain time around the dial. While the diver is underwater he can see when the hand reaches that point on the bezel he will be out of air and he needs to float up. This is what I have heard but maybe the bezel can just be used as a general timer or some other purpose that I am not aware of.

Random Point: A few weeks ago my dad aproached me and said "Help me out, my watch is broken, the bezel only moves one way!" HE HAS HAD THIS WATCH FOR FOUR YEARS AND HE DOES NOT KNOW HIS BEZEL IS UNI-DIRECTIONAL!"


----------



## SCD (May 4, 2009)

Well that's simple enough. Thanks.


----------



## tallguylehigh (Jun 23, 2009)

How to use a tachymeter:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/...watch-bezel-usage-instruction-and-definition/

From:

http://www.thescubaguide.com/gear/misc/diving-watches.aspx


_A bezel is a rotating dial on the face of your dive watch with a pointer indicator. When you are ready to descend, you align the bezel with the minute hand, where it stays for the duration of the dive. By comparing the bezel and the minute hand you can easily see how long you have been submerged.
[*]A special note about the rotating bezel on a good dive watch: it will only turn counterclockwise! Since it is possible to knock your watch against your body or have it turn by accident, watchmakers make sure that any accidental misalignment will turn the time in a conservative direction - telling you that the dive has been longer rather than shorter
_
_And some differing viewpoints from withn WUS:

https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=48141

Hope this helps :-!_


----------



## TakesALickin (Mar 12, 2009)

I've been told by other older guys that they use the timer bezel when making love to their wives.

"5,4,3,2,1.... and we're done! Can I go watch football now?" :-d


----------



## H3O+ (May 23, 2009)

> A special note about the rotating bezel on a good dive watch: it will only turn _counterclockwise_! Since it is possible to knock your watch against your body or have it turn by accident, watchmakers make sure that any accidental misalignment will turn the time in a conservative direction - telling you that the dive has been _longer_ rather than _shorter_


This is only true of watches with outer rotating bezels. Watches with inner rotating bezels, such as the B&R at the top of the screen, can "swing both ways" so to speak (sometimes-- I actually don't know about the B&R.)


----------



## Watchbreath (Feb 12, 2006)

:think: Many that I've talked with say, it's like a nervous twitch. They don't 
realize there're doing it.


----------



## link2derek (Jul 8, 2008)

I have used my rotating bezels to time everything from steaks on the grill to my taking the bar exam. Very handy when you only need accuracy in minutes/hours and not seconds. If I need to measure seconds, I use a digital stop watch.

_*D*_


----------



## RJRJRJ (Apr 5, 2008)

I use it more than the chrono, unless I need specific timing to the second.


----------



## Beyond 'The Box' (Jan 11, 2008)

For timing things/events. Typically, and originally, intended for divers to time dives, but in the case of the first watch pictured there, Breitling Aerospace, that just simply can't be the case as there is no lume dot.


----------



## Tragic (Feb 11, 2006)

Beyond 'The Box' said:


> For timing things/events. Typically, and originally, intended for divers to time dives, but in the case of the first watch pictured there, Breitling Aerospace, that just simply can't be the case as there is no lume dot.


Don't know if that's just a bad pic or if the lume pip is gone but there is one:



Rotating bezels are for timing steaks on the grill.
I thought everyone knew that? ;-)


----------



## H3O+ (May 23, 2009)

> Rotating bezels are for timing steaks on the grill.
> I thought everyone knew that? ;-)


[SNOBBY FRENCH VOICE] You must cook it till it is done! Use a probe thermometer![/SNOBBY FRENCH VOICE]


----------



## katmando (Jul 22, 2008)

I like the idea.:-!


----------



## Beyond 'The Box' (Jan 11, 2008)

Tragic said:


> Don't know if that's just a bad pic or if the lume pip is gone but there is one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not sure but I'm guessing that the gold version just doesn't have the lume dot, if you noticed it also has all hash marks, where the one pictured in your post has numerals every five minutes.


----------



## tt32003 (Mar 21, 2008)

For the breitling there should be a digital stopwatch and maybe even a countdown timer right ?
And there should be illumination for the digital portion.
The bazel may not be that essential.


----------



## Bulldozer (Oct 6, 2007)

It turns the world around...sometimes.


----------



## G-Shocks Are Cool. (Feb 23, 2007)

The rotating bezel was first designed for diving I believe.

I will let the real watch experts answer that.

Anyway, I really like the rotating bezel on watches. It's so useful. It's totally different from digital watch in the sense that you can actually see the time ahead of time in analog form.

You can use the 60 minute bezel to time something or 12 or 24 hours too.

If you turn the bezel on that hour. but it is closer or near the next hour you can separate the five minutes into 15 minutes and half an hour.


----------



## Nikos (Jun 23, 2009)

G-Shocks Are Cool. said:


> The rotating bezel was first designed for diving I believe.
> 
> . . .
> 
> If you turn the bezel on that hour. but it is closer or near the next hour you can separate the five minutes into 15 minutes and half an hour.


I believe you mean 12 minutes.


----------



## TakesALickin (Mar 12, 2009)

Nikos said:


> I believe you mean 12 minutes.


It's like deja vu all over again! :-d


----------



## katmando (Jul 22, 2008)

Stanley Lyndon said:


> It turns the world around...sometimes.


I like the idea.|>


----------



## scm64 (May 12, 2007)

As mentioned timing something (traditionally dive time), but is also depends on the bezel.

If it has 24 hour markings, it can be used as a third timezone on a GMT watch.


----------



## jonkel (Jul 9, 2009)

Mechanical watch is less accurate than quartz, but if the former has a bezel, you can set the exact time with the bezel. For example, if watch 3 seconds fast, move bezel zero marker three seconds clockwise. Repeat the process daily and your watch will have quartz-like accuracy if you use the bezel to read the seconds. Simple - huh.


----------



## Kittysafe (Nov 28, 2011)

I would use my Omega's rotating bezel if it had 2 changes.

1) Rotate both ways instead of just counter clockwise

2) I can use it as a countdown timer, so that if I set it to the 3, a little alarm will sound after 15 minutes, etc... up to one hour.


----------



## Gordon Shumway (Oct 18, 2011)

I believe you can also use the bezel to locate true North. It involves pointing one of the hands at the sun and doing some other settings, but the concept is pretty cool. I'll see if I can find a video or write-up on it.


----------



## dbakiva (May 7, 2011)

Gordon Shumway said:


> I believe you can also use the bezel to locate true North. It involves pointing one of the hands at the sun and doing some other settings, but the concept is pretty cool. I'll see if I can find a video or write-up on it.


You don't need the bezel to use a watch as a compass.

Here's a quick-and-dirty method: You just have to know what time it is and be able to see the Sun, or see where it is (easier with an analog watch, but not truly necessary). If you are in the Northern temperate zone, hold the watch so that the hour hand faces the Sun. Find midway between the hour hand and 12:00. This is the North/South line. In the morning, South will be at the bisection of the acute angle, in the afternoon, of the obtuse angle. The reverse for the Southern temperate zone. If you're confused, remember that the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. At night, or in the tropics, good luck! Better yet, carry a compass with you. Or your iPhone.


----------



## tuckerhazel (Jul 14, 2017)

Something I don't think anyone else mentioned. Divers will set the top "zero" point where their minute hand is so they can tell how much time has elapsed underwater. When it is time to go up, they might reset the "zero" marker to the current time so that they can accurately time decompression stops (this helps avoid getting decompression sickness). But yes since it is such a popular watch type, most people just use it to tell elapsed time up to an hour.


----------



## TwentiethCenturyFox (Mar 8, 2014)

Several types of bezels, not just for rotation and time. The Tachy bezel is super cool and offers multiple options for gaging Speed. I have been able track my 0-60 time with the use of my Speedy for example.


----------



## yankeexpress (Apr 7, 2013)

Rather unusual Countdown timer bezel with reversed numerals, which is unidirectional in the clockwise direction, opposite to a "normal" timing bezel.


----------



## mfunnell (Jun 8, 2017)

Wow. This has been disinterred a second time already. Yet nobody has yet given the *real* answer: something to fidget with during boring meetings.

...Mike


----------

