Fluted bezel

[hugs]

How does a fluted bezel hold up to daily wear?

I have only ever worn watches with smooth or ceramic/aluminium bezels. My SS bezel on my Explorer is pretty dinged up after a few months - I don't mind this but I can't help but assume a soft gold bezel with delicate fluting would take this quite badly.

Is there a reason fluted bezels are only offered on the "dressier" models? Has anyone here used a fluted bezel for daily outdoor wear or should I stick to a smooth bezel?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[elkaholic]

My father wore a Two tone DJ with YG fluted bezel virtually daily for 7-8yrs before it was given to me. He wore it while moving furniture, riding motorcycles off-road, swimming in pools and oceans, and countless other rougher activities. He wasn't looking to abuse it, but he never babied it either.

I am wearing it as I type this and there are zero substantial marks on the bezel, it shines brilliantly and picks up all kinds of light in the sun. The band has a lot of stretch to it but on the wrist, few of any people wouldn't think its relatively new.

[Jocke]

I use my fluted WG bezel at works and now it's close to smooth.

[gtnator]

Originally Posted by Jocke

I use my fluted WG bezel at works and now it's close to smooth.

What kind of work did you do while wearing your watch?


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[august1410]

Originally Posted by Jocke

I use my fluted WG bezel at works and now it's close to smooth.

You are my hero. I will no longer complain about a minute scratch on the watch or crystal ever again!

[tomchicago]

you have an exp2 right? that's your outdoor watch. fluted DJ is ostensibly for lighter duty, but reality is it can take whatever you dish out

[AK797]

Fluted bezels hide scratches quite well. I had a few on my DD2 but they would have been far more prominent on a smooth bezel. Fluted, like the jubilee and president, is a more dressy and formal style.

[Terrakot]

..with jeans

[Quailhunter]

Fluted bezels on a 25 year old yellow gold DayDate and a 8 year old DateJust. Both look good. I won't buy a smooth bezel watch due to vulnerability to damage.

[ejvette]

Smooth bezel's are scratch magnets fluted bezel's hide scratches beautifully

[elkaholic]

Originally Posted by ejvette

Smooth bezel's are scratch magnets fluted bezel's hide scratches beautifully

Agreed. This is the only thing that ever kept me from pulling the trigger on the 36mm Explorer.

[jaySL350]

Originally Posted by ejvette

Smooth bezel's are scratch magnets fluted bezel's hide scratches beautifully

The above,,,,,
my milgauss gv really piled on the marks on the bezel but on my dj2 fluted i cant see any,,,,,jay

[watchwatcher]

It holds up fine. A better question for you would be which one do you like better.

[Chiboy]

I wore this daily for 31 years. Played tennis with it, worked out with it, and wore it with desk jobs. Although the picture isn't the best, and the watch was a bit dirty when I shot it, the bezel would still sparkle and create a perfect reflection. So I didn't find it soft or easily damaged at all.

I think the flat bezels get scratched up, but the fluted look fine. There's an awful big emphasis here on keeping watches looking exactly like new after years and years of use. I think it takes away from the enjoyment of these fine, hardy watches.

[dr3ws]

Just curious though say after more than 10 years and then you get it serviced, does the fluted bezel gets repolished by RSC to look as sharp as when it was new?

[Hucksimp]

Originally Posted by dr3ws

Just curious though say after more than 10 years and then you get it serviced, does the fluted bezel gets repolished by RSC to look as sharp as when it was new?

Good question!

[dr3ws]

Originally Posted by Hucksimp

Good question!

I'm planning to get a DJ 41 in fluted bezel hopefully I will keep it for life and so wanted to know how it will last

[hugs]

Thanks for the responses and pictures. It sounds like if I don't mind wear on the smooth bezel the fluted will be fine.

@dr3ws- seems like you would lose a lot of metal by trying to restore the fluting I guess buying another bezel is always an option if you don't like it when it's smoothed down a bit?

[Old Geezer]

Fluted bezel will hold up fine unless you are just doing brutal work like masonry or wrenching on huge trucks and knocking it constantly.

[kilyung]

It's also an easily replaceable part if too worn

[Terrakot]

Originally Posted by kilyung

It's also an easily replaceable part if too worn

yes, and very expensive

[Etschell]

They hold up better than smooth bezels.

[Chadridv]

When you look close you can see several micro scratches but the design inherently masks wear extremely well!

[teb1013]

This is 25 years old, although I haven't had it for that long, I don't know if the bezel is as crisp as it once was, but still looks good to me. I rotate it with a couple of other watches but don't baby it in any meaningful way. I assume a smooth bezel will show marks more.


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[slickz]

does anyone know if its possible to put a fluted bezel on the milgauss GV? what does everyone think of this idea? yay or nay?

[locutus49]

I wore a fluted DJ for 20 years in the Army. No problems at all.

[dbhak22]

I've seen/owned watches with fluted bezels that are 30+ years old that are still "crisp" as well as "rounded/worn"; with regular wear. Fluted bezels are gold (yellow, white, etc.) so would be softer than the rest of the case and more prone to damage. However, I suspect that polishing is the primary (obviously not the ONLY) cause for consistent "rounding" of the flutes. I can't think of a scenario where only daily wear/tear would cause consistent rounding across the 360-degrees of the bezel? Some examples below:

Mostly sharp with some nicks/scratches:



Somewhere between sharp and rounded:



Pretty sharp and worn daily:

[wach16]

I have owned a couple DJ's with white gold fluted bezels and as long as you are somewhat "wrist aware", they tend to hold up great and hide scratches as others have stated.

[samson66]

Great. They don't show scratches like smooth bezels do. Love mine

[JSolano305]

I believe this whole fluted is too dressy and what not is a thing of the past. Now a days DJ fluted or smooth looks good with just about anything. In fact I see more fluted in the wild over smooth. Most of the time the person wearing it does not have a suit or tie on.