How to use a dive watch bezel
Line the bezel's triangle up with the minute hand and read the elapsed minutes off the scale. How it works, why it turns one way only, and everyday uses.
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How it works
The bezel is a ring marked from 0 to 60 minutes, with a triangle or a lume pip at zero. On a dive watch it turns only anticlockwise, in clicks, usually 60 or 120 a turn. If it gets knocked, it can only show more time gone by, never less, so a diver relying on it surfaces early rather than late.
The first 15 or 20 minutes are often marked minute by minute, for finer reading where it matters most.
Timing something
- When you start, turn the bezel until the triangle sits over the minute hand.
- Read the elapsed minutes where the minute hand points on the bezel scale.
- For more than an hour, count the laps yourself: the bezel starts again at zero.
Counting down
To be reminded in 25 minutes, turn the bezel so the triangle sits 25 minutes ahead of the minute hand. When the minute hand reaches the triangle, time is up. This is the classic parking meter trick, and it works for cooking, laundry and meetings too.
Other bezels you may meet
- Countdown bezels are numbered from 60 down to 0, so you set the minutes you have and read what is left.
- A 12-hour bezel tracks a second time zone: turn it by the hour difference and read the hour hand against it.
- A 24-hour bezel works with the fourth hand on a GMT watch.
- A tachymeter scale measures speed with a chronograph. It does not turn.
Looking after it
After the sea or a pool, rinse the watch in fresh water and turn the bezel a few full turns under the tap to flush out salt and sand. A bezel that grinds, slips or goes stiff needs a watchmaker. Check the watch is rated for it first: the water resistance guide explains the ratings.