24 hour dial?

[submariner66]

I've always wondered why Rolex abandoned the 24 hour dial, I've seen some vintage Rolex 24 hour dials and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts as to why they did not pursue their design into the modern era? Especially give the professional range and a military submariner.

Personally, I love a 24 hour dial - some of my favorite and most used watches in the past have been the railroad seiko's and even the timex. Then I bought my sub last year but still miss the 24 hour dial. .

I would love to hear any thoughts or conversation about the 24 hour dial and its history with Rolex. Thanks!

[Jim300186]

Well the gmt master and the explorer ii have a 24 hour bezel so still kind of in use

[rolex75216]

Wikipedia says, "A 24-hour watch with multiple hour hands or a rotating bezel is particularly useful for displaying the time in multiple time zones. Rolex was asked to create what is considered to be the original version of this watch by Pan American Airlines in the 1950s, and as a result they made the Rolex GMT Master II."

[scottb2]

supply and demand.....

[GlideLockHeadLock]

doesnt the GMT2 have a 24 hour bezel? lol

[submariner66]

Yes I know about the 24 hour "bezel" but I was talking about the dial specifically with two sets of numbers. Commonly known as as a railroad watch today. Rolex used to produce them, looks like in the 1940's. just curious as to why they stopped..maybe it was the GMT?

[jshepard]

You mean it goes 1-12 then 13-24 right under the 1-12 numbers? So 2 would have a 14 under it? Or a 24 hour watch like a Glycine Airman?

[submariner66]

Yes 1 then underneath 13. 2 then 14. 3 then 15 and so on. It's a great practical easy to read design maybe a little nerdish though. They kind of look like training clocks?! Lol.

[T. Ferguson]

Well, other companies do it this way on some of their models. The Omega Aqua Terra GMT being one such example. As for Rolex, obviously this wouldn't pertain to the GMT line because the indices on the rotating bezel makes it a more powerful tool. But theoretically they could have made the ExpII this way since it is a two time zone watch.

Personally, I prefer the 24 hour bezel myself. It is just easier to read without the busy-ness like when both sets of indices are on the dial. Having the hour markers outside the glass makes it more of a stand alone reference. The Aqua Terra is a bit difficult for me to read, partly because besides the 12 and 24 hour indices it also has a dial for the seconds with a numeral at every five seconds. There's a lot going on, lol.

But this might be a natural way to go if, for example, Rolex wanted to expand the ExpI line by adding a model with a GMT function.

[powerfunk]

Rolex used to make dials with:

-Linen textures
-Crosshairs (a.k.a. Zephyr dials)
-"imperial" font
-Romans where 5-7 were facing upright (like VI instead of I/\).
-Half-romans and half-Arabics (a.k.a. California dials)
-Company logos
-24-hour (military) dials

They used to do all sorts of fun stuff, like barked gold! I guess at some point all these things became dated. Who knows!

[submariner66]

Understood about the various dials, and the bezel being "better". I wonder how it would look if the yacht master were to incorporate a 24 hour dial, would certainly be useful for a navigator? Just seems it could be a useful function on some of their professional models, and they had it before. Oh well.