Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission.
How to Use Your Watch for More Than Just the Time
How to read a watch’s bezel, be it a simple count-up, count-down, slide-rule, tachymeter, 12-hour or more.
By
Ed Estlow
We love our high complications and luxury masterpieces as much as the next watch nerd. But our bias is for timepieces that can “do things,” watches that are each an essential piece of kit. Sure, it’s an instrument for telling time, but it can also be used to time a dive or a racing lap, take a pulse, or calculate remaining fuel or crosswind speed or the distance of thunder or artillery.
How, you ask? The answer has little to do with the watch’s movement. It’s all about the bezel, that outer ring of metal (or perhaps, nowadays, ceramic) surrounding your watch’s crystal. The ones we’re talking about have numbers or other markings; they may rotate in one direction or both, or not at all; they may feature some other combination of all that. How each type of bezel works is not complicated per se, but it is deserving of a quick guide.
Count-Up Bezel With a 0-60 Scale
Perhaps the most commonly seen bezel markers are on dive watches. These scales go from zero to 60, indicating minutes in an hour, and are used to keep track of time spent underwater, a critical parameter along with depth and remaining air. The first 15 (sometimes 20) minutes are marked in one-minute increments while the rest of the scale is usually marked in five-minute increments. The increased resolution for the first 15 minutes on the scale allows divers to time decompression stops with relative precision during ascents at the end of a dive. To use a dive bezel, set the zero marker opposite the minute hand; as time passes, you can read off elapsed time on the bezel without having to do any mental calculations.
Countdown Bezel With a 60-0 Scale
Pretty much the opposite of a count-up scale, a countdown scale is used to set the time remaining before or during an event. Rotate the bezel so the time remaining on your parking meter is opposite the minute hand. When the minute hand reaches zero on the scale, you’re in parking ticket territory.
Tachymeter
The tachymeter bezel is the distinguishing feature on iconic chronographs like the Omega Speedmaster and Rolex Daytona. The logarithmic scale is proportional to “one over elapsed time” (1/elapsed time) and therefore is used to measure units per time increments. Most common of these is speed in miles per hour. However, you can also calculate units per hour on a production line, pitches per hour during a baseball game, or the average rate of any other repeating event. Start the chronograph when one unit passes (mile marker, widget, whatever), stop it when the next unit passes, and read units per hour on the scale.
Pulsometer
Specialized “medical watches” have a pulsometer at the edge of the dial. This is a specially calibrated tachymeter used to determine heart rate. Start the chronograph timer and count the beats until you get to the number for which the scale is calibrated — usually 15, sometimes 30. Stop the timer and read the heart rate in beats per minute. A related scale, often found on the same watch, is the asthmometer, used to determine a patient’s respiratory rate. The scale is read the same way and is typically calibrated to five respirations.
Telemeter
This is a scale used to determine the distance from the wearer to an event that can be both seen and heard. Sudden lightning storm move in while you’re on your backcountry trek? Trigger the chronograph timer when you see the flash, stop it when you hear the thunder clap. See if you’re safe from harm by reading the distance in miles or kilometers on the telemeter scale. The speed of sound in air is effectively a function of air temperature (we’ll ignore the minor effects of humidity and altitude), so the scale is usually calibrated at a typical ambient temperature.
GMT
The term GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) has been abandoned by the scientific community but the label still sticks in the tradition-bound world of timepieces. The bezel on a GMT watch is marked in 24 equal increments, becoming the chapter ring for the watch’s 24-hour GMT hand. This makes the watch a two time zone watch. If a second 24-hour ring is included on the dial, that creates a third time zone. The bezel is also often in two colors, roughly designating day and night. To use this bezel, set the hour marker on the bezel opposite the 24-hour hand for the time zone you want to track. It’s that easy. Just remember that a 24-hour hand only goes around once a day. You’ll get the hang of it.
Compass
You’re hiking the High Sierra and you lost your compass? Well, okay, you’re a watch nerd, not a woodsman. If you’re in the northern hemisphere (hopefully you can tell that much), rotate the compass bezel until the south mark is halfway between the hour hand (subtract an hour if you’re on daylight saving time) and 12 o’clock. Point the hour hand at the sun and use the bezel orientation to determine north, south, east and west. Just reset the bezel about once an hour and you’ll find your way home.
Slide Rule
We’ve saved the coolest bezel for last here; it’s also the most complicated. The slide rule bezel is basically two matching logarithmic scales — one stationary and one on a rotating outer ring. You perform multiplication and division by rotating the outer ring. This is old-school math, folks; Cold-War-era engineers will wax nostalgic if you show them this one.
Say you want to multiply 8 by 14. You place the 14 on the outer rotating bezel scale opposite the 10 (a unit index used as a conversion factor) on the inner scale (at around 2:30). Opposite the 8 on the inner scale, read the answer, 112, on the outer scale. Simple, huh? Okay, we didn’t think so either. We won’t tell anyone if you pull out your iPhone as a backup.
You can use a slide-rule bezel to handle all sorts of navigational calculations: airspeed, rate/time of climb or descent, flight time, distance and fuel consumption as well as distance unit conversions. Unfortunately, those are a little complicated to go into here — refer to your instruction booklet for those (Breitling’s does a particularly nice job). The slide rule bezel is most commonly found on aviator’s watches; unfortunately, knowing how to use the bezel doesn’t get you any closer to your pilot’s license. That part is up to you.
Ready to go in 15 minutes, Ooni Fyra reaches temperatures up to 932°F (500°C), cooking authentic stone-baked 12” pizza in just 60 seconds. Just one of Ooni's options when it comes to making homemade pizzas.
The Sonos Move is the brand's first portable speaker and is the right speaker for anyone looking to add quality sound to their Wi-Fi-enabled outdoor space. It also can be a great speaker in any room of the house.
Snowe's elegant coffee mugs are made of Limoges porcelain, yet aren’t absurdly expensive. The shape is classic, as is the color, and the makeup is that of mugs and tableware twice its cost.
Lightweight, luxuriously soft, and handsome as all get-out, with its classic sheepskin elbow patches and beautifully understated donegal finish, Take 20% off and get $20 in credit for a limited time.
Mirror is offering $500 off the entire package with code BLACKFRIDAY20 (note that this does not include tax, delivery and the $39/mo subscription). This deal runs through Black Friday, so if you've been looking to get off the sofa and back into shape, now is the time to act.
The Made In Chef Knife easily worked through any and all kitchen cutting tasks we put it through. Saving $22 on a trusty knife that's less susceptible to chipping because of the straight-lined handle is a good steal.
A versatile piece of cookware that's rarely on sale, not to mention a Gear Patrol favorite, this 10-inch, 2.6-quart, non-stick cast aluminum sauté pan comes with a detachable wooden spatula, domed lid and nesting steamer tray.
Our Just Get This pick for a better office chair, the Steelcase Series 1 chair is the best value on the market. On sale for under $400, this is the office chair purchase to make.
These relaxed slim fits with a medium rise were already a ridiculously good price before the $59 off. For the quality, this might be the best Black Friday deal on jeans you'll find.
A campfire without smoke, the portable FirePit is perfect for socially-distanced times outdoors. And you can also cook on it and charge your phone, at the same time.
If you're looking for bedding upgrades, Parachute's 20% off everything sale is the place to start. You can't go wrong with this affordable, modern take on the quilt that's got a linen front and percale back.
It's braising season, and this classic Dutch oven can weather any dish you throw at it. If you haven't added the classic Le Creuset Dutch Oven to your kitchen, now's your chance.
While the Beam is an older version of the newer Sonos Arc, it's a no-brainer buy. While it doesn't support Dolby Atmos, it still sounds great and is more than half the price of the Arc right now.
Theragun's percussive massagers are tough to beat - and they're currently on sale. The Elite works deep to melt away tension and release soreness, making this a perfect gift for anyone (or yourself).
The Adidas Ultraboost has been a Gear Patrol favorite since it launched in 2015. They're a perfect crossover for training and run commuting. While they go on sale often, 30% off for all colorways is a good find.
This travel pillow is 80% smaller than a normal travel pillow, meaning it can be stashed easily. Plus, the contoured design still offers plenty of support. While travel is not an option at the moment, it will eventually be again in the future so it's a good time to grab this neck-saver.
If you're in the market for a new coffee maker, Oxo's 8-cup brewer is simple, fairly priced and brews the highest standard of coffee there is. And now it's even more affordable.
Patagonia's Nano Puff Jacket is a modern classic — it's light, packable and perhaps the most versatile layer one can own. While only three colors are on sale currently at Backcountry (Supply Green, Balkan Blue and Mango), the Nano Puff at 25 percent off is a deal to scoop up.
This linen sheet set is as airy as you’d want it to be, but the weave isn’t too loose either, as was common in testing cheaper linens. The low cost and variety of colors make it a rock-solid starter set.
Everlane’s jeans come from a highly-respected Japanese denim mill but at a price point way less than you'd expect. And at half off they're an easy buy in any of the washes.
Carbon steel cookware is some of the most versatile cookware you can buy, making it great for everyday cooking. This skillet and wok combo set from Made In will probably be an upgrade over other daily-use pans and come at a decent savings.
For years, critics and consumers have praised the Jarvis Standing Desk, and for good reason: its stability, design and breadth of customization options make it a worthy investment for the home or office.
Our first collab with our friends Taylor Stitch, the Reversible Able Vest (and the Lombarid Jacket as well) offers an Arid Camo on one side with Taylor Stitch's proprietary Boss Duck on the other. Score 20% off on this collab now and snatch one a perfect layering garment.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io
