Watch bezels have several types of scales, including rotating bezels and unidirectional rotating bezels. Although these greatly affect the design and function of mechanical watches, it is difficult to call them mere gimmicks. I will explain the types of bezels, how to use them, and their significance.
Let's Learn the Terminology of Wristwatches
As much as we love mechanical watches, isn't the aspect of mechanical watches secondary?
There is romance in mechanical watches that are complex, beautiful, and technologically advanced. Of course, this is an important factor, but let's go back to basics and look at the basics of watch parts.
The Rolex Oyster case was the first watch to be waterproof. As early as the 1920s, they introduced screw-down case backs and crowns.The exterior of a watch consists of parts such as the middle case, case back (back cover), bezel, lugs, and windproof (glass), and these are collectively called the case. be. In general, the middle case is referred to as the "case".
The movement and dial are wrapped in the case and caseback, the dial is covered with a windshield, and the bezel is fixed on the rim. The bezel sits on top of the case. Many high-end models have sapphire glass on the case back so that the movement can be viewed.
On the main right side of the watch is the crown and pushers, which are connected mainly by four lugs extending from the case to the end piece at the end of the bracelet.
The dial has Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, and bar indexes, and the basic function of a wristwatch is to point the hands to these to keep time.
Let's learn about the bezel
Introduced in 1953, the Rolex Submariner was the first diver's watch guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100m.Because the main role of the bezel is to fix the glass, protect it from shocks and scratches, and prevent water from entering the watch, it is basically screwed or fixed with adhesive.
The main function of a wristwatch is to display the time, but throughout history, attempts have been made to equip it with various functions as an instrument.
Here, let's touch on the outline of the bezel, which has been given functions along with the development of the wristwatch as a measuring device.
Bezels can be broadly divided into movable “rotating bezels” and immovable “fixed bezels”.
Rotating bezels can be further divided into two types: unidirectional rotating bezels and bidirectional rotating bezels. The unidirectional rotating bezel can only turn clockwise or counterclockwise. Which way it turns depends on the function as a measuring device.
Depending on the content to be measured, a bi-directional rotating bezel is adopted, and it is simply called a "rotating bezel" because it does not have a reverse rotation prevention function.
