Do Rolex Bezels Rotate Both Ways?
Some Rolex models are equipped with so-called rotating, or rotatable bezels. These bezels serve a purpose when it comes to timekeeping in different ways. Whilst most of the bezels on Rolex’s models are fixed, non-rotatable, and purely for aesthetic purposes, the rotating bezels can be found in Rolex’s professional line.
But do Rolex bezels rotate both ways? The short answer is that Rolex has models that rotate one-directional and bi-directional.
Rolex’s rotatable bezels can be divided into four different categories:
- Diving bezel
- GMT bezel
- Ring-command bezel
- Timekeeping bezel
Some of these can rotate both ways, but not all of them.
Diving bezel – one-directional
The diving bezel can be found on Rolex’s dive watches, meaning the Sky-Dweller, Sea-Dweller, and Submariner. These are one-directional and can only be rotated to the left. The purpose of the diving bezel is to measure elapsed time when the diver is underwater. Back in the day, this was a crucial tool for divers to know how long they had been underwater and therefore how much oxygen they have left in the tank. Today, professional divers generally have much more advanced tools, but the concept of the Rolex dive watches remains. Plus, some people do use the rotating bezel as it was originally intended when diving.
The dive bezels are one-directional so that the diver does not accidentally knock the bezel and makes the diver believe that they have been underwater for a shorter period than they have. This ensures that they don’t put themselves in a life-threatening situation, as accidentally knocking the bezel will result in the bezel indicating that they have been underwater for a longer period than they have. Thus ensuring that they will come up from the water before their oxygen tank has run out of oxygen.
GMT bezel
The GMT bezel is a bi-directional bezel that can rotate both ways. This has to do with the actual purpose of the GMT bezel. The GMT bezel can of course be found on the GMT-Master II models. The GMT bezel has 24-hour markings and is used together with the additional GMT-Hand to keep track of multiple time zones. The bezel can rotate in both directions to make it possible for the wearer to quickly switch between different time zones.
Ring Command bezel
The ring command bezel is a different type of bezel from Rolex that has built-in functionality. Whilst all other rotating bezels have markers on them, this is not always the case for the ring command bezel.
This bezel can be found on two models: the Sky-Dweller and the Yacht-Master II. The Sky-Dweller bezel is designed as a regular white gold fluted bezel and does therefore look like a static, non-rotatable bezel at first glance. The Yacht-Master II bezel is ceramic and has numbers on it, which are used for the functionality of the watch.
What is special about the ring command bezel is that it is connected to the movement. The bezel can be rotated to put it into different “positions”. Each position of the bezel will connect the crown to different functions when operating the crown. For example, one position allows you to adjust the date, another position allows you to adjust the hour hand, and so on.
Technically, the ring command bezel does rotate both ways, however, it does not rotate 360 degrees. Instead, the bezel rotates through the different positions and can then be rotated back to its starting position.
As for the Yacht-Master II, the Ring Command bezel in the Yacht-Master II regatta chronograph operates in conjunction with the movement. In practice, the bezel acts as the key to the programmable countdown which allows it to be set and synchronized to the sequence of race start times.
Timekeeping bezel
Last but not least, we have the timekeeping bezel. This bezel rotates both ways and can be found in the Yacht-Master. The bezel of the Yacht-Master has the same design as the dive watch with 60-minute markers, with the difference being that it rotates both ways.
The reason that this bezel rotates both ways and the dive bezel does not is that the Yacht-Master is not meant for professional diving. Instead, the bezel of the Yacht-Master is more so used to calculate the sailing time between two buoys, for example.
Conclusion
As you can see, Rolex has several different rotating bezel types for its watches and some of them can rotate both ways whereas others cannot. Each of the bezels have distinct purposes and are meant to make the watches more functional and practical.
