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What is "The Bezel"? Watch Parts

You might've come across the term "Bezel" while surfing the internet for watches. Unless you're an experienced watch guy or a knowledgeable enthusiast, I guess you don't know what the "Bezel" of a watch is.

Short Answer: It's simply the ring on the outer side of the crystal, that holds the components in place. Some types of bezels have multiple functions. You can see the Bezel of the watch in the picture above is highlighted in bright red, while all the other parts of the watch are silver.

If you're interested in some details, keep reading...

Bezel Materials

 Here's a list of some common bezel materials:

• Stainless Steel: Most likely the most common bezel material. It gives the watch a modern look while also being known for its durability and resistance.
• Aluminum: Aluminum bezels can have eye-catching appearances while being lightweight.
• Ceramic: These glossy bezels are super smooth, scratch-resistant, and also look great. They're mostly used on high-end watches.
• Gold or Silver: For the people that like a bit of luxury and elegance. These metals shine beautifully and gravitate so many eyes.

Bezel Functions

Remember when I said some bezel types have multiple functions at the start of this article? Here we are. Let's take a look at the common bezel types and their functions.

• Fixed Bezel: This type of bezel is stationary. It’s purely decorative and structural. The basic.
• Rotating Bezel: This one can rotate as you can guess from its name. It's usually seen on dive watches, where you can track how much time you've spent underwater so that you know how much oxygen is left in your tank.
• Tachymeter Bezel: This type of bezel can measure speed over a known distance or the production rate (units per hour) with a known time interval. Most watches with tachymeter bezels are also chronographs (watches with a stopwatch function).
• GMT Bezel: These bezels have 24-hour markers so you can track two timezones at the same time by adjusting each to whichever timezone you want. Ideal if you're going abroad a lot and always calculating the timezone difference to call people, to not call them at an inappropriate time, like 04.00 in the morning :)

Conclusion

The bezel is a key structural part of any watch, but can also have great appeal to the eye with a glossy, luxurious, and eye-catching design either by color, material, or even shape.

 

 

Check out other watch parts:

• The Strap

• The Crown

• The Hands

• The Dial

• The Crystal

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Written by B.H.