History of the rotating Bezel: Before ROLEX

[steel4me]

ok folks here are osme questions:

1) Before ROLEX, did watches have roatating bezels??

2) Was ROLEX the first watch to make a rotating bezel?

3) Was the SUB then the first ROLEX with a rotating bezel, hence the first watch in the world with a rotatinz bezel?

thanks,

[Jocke]

Originally Posted by steel4me

ok folks here are osme questions:

1) Before ROLEX, did watches have roatating bezels??

2) Was ROLEX the first watch to make a rotating bezel?

3) Was the SUB then the first ROLEX with a rotating bezel, hence the first watch in the world with a rotatinz bezel?

thanks,

Just google about Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and you will get the answers.

Jocke

[SKSeoul81]

No, no, no..

I guess you just could have asked 1 question, the 3rd that is, makes the other 2 pretty redundant.

[Psmith]

Here you go...

"In 1952, two French military officers, Captain "Bob" Maloubier and his lieutenant Claude Riffaud were tasked by the French Military of Defence to create the elite combat diving unit "Les Nageurs de Combat".

The new unit required rugged, water-resistance and reliable material capable of withstanding the testing conditions of underwater missions. The two officers’ attempts to find an existing watch that could meet these requirements were fruitless, and their search led them to Blancpain.

Working closely together, the company's leading engineers and watchmakers successfully developed the Fifty Fathoms in 1953. The operational needs of the Les Nageurs de Combat were met, and the archetypal diver's watch was born

Utilizing an automatic winding movement for robustness, and a unidirectional bezel to keep track of elapsed diving time (a world's first), the Fifty Fathoms was cased in robust stainless steel. Its guaranteed water resistance was a then-unheard-of fifty fathoms or 91.45 meters, which was the maximum dive depth for a diver equipped with cylinders containing a mix of oxygen and nitrogen."

[Tools]

There is a lot of controversy about the timing of who was "first", with the faithful in both camps claiming "firsts".

It's true that the Blancpain FF was developed for the French military in 1953.

But it is also true that in Sept 30, 1953, Rolex did their bathysphere experiment (Professor Auguste Piccard) with their Rolex Submariner strapped to the outside demonstrating waterproofing of their product to a world record of 10,335 ft.. To be able to do this in 1953, the watch had to have been in development much earlier..

Both the Sub 6204 and the Turn-O-Graph 6202 were manufactured in 1953

In any event, the Blancpain was not available to the general public until later, whereas the Sub, along with the Turn-o-graph, were fully developed and displayed at the 1954 Basel Fair..

It may be true that the FF used the first uni-directional bezel, I don't know, The original Rolex Bezels were bi-directional and used a friction stop and did not go uni-directional until later.

(source: "The Best Of Time" Dowling-Hes)

[Psmith]

Thanks Larry, and apologies for not crediting a source for my quote. In fact it is an excerpt from a larger text on my PC - from whence it came I cannot recall...

At least we can be sure of the year - 1953. Being a diving watch devotee, the FF has long been once of my (many) grail watches...

Cheers

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Psmith

At least we can be sure of the year - 1953. Being a diving watch devotee, the FF has long been once of my (many) grail watches...

Cheers

I agree.. The FF is on my list too. I really like the newer models with a sapphire bezel insert.

I wonder how the FF sapphire insert will compare to the new Rolex ceramic inserts........