Holy Bicolour Bezels, Batman!
Can someone explain the reason for bicolour bezels on standard three-handers with timing bezels? I love the look, but is it of practical use on a non-GMT? 🤷♂️
(I’m not picking on the Duro, btw, they were just the first examples I saw 👍)
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Were Rolex the first to do this? I don't know but I have read several posts suggesting that in general they copied ideas from other watchmakers?
Allow me to amend your statement. Rolex put out its GMT Master in 1954. It was the first watch to feature a 24 hour hand slaved to the regular 12 hour hand and a rotatable bezel for tracking a second time zone. It was not independently adjustable and operated in much the same way as the Vostok Komandirskie GMTs still do.
However, in 1953, Glycine actually launched the first watch with a 24 hour hand and dial along with rotatable bezel for tracking a second time zone, in the form of the Airman. So Glycine actually beat Rolex to market by a year with the idea for the GMT watch, but Rolex was the first to launch a four handed watch. Neither company launched GMTs as we know them today until much later.
https://glycintennial.com/glycine-airman
The original 1953 Airman:
My modern take on the above:
I respectfully disagree. It’s the same idea for the same purpose executed just a bit differently (really so that Rolex could get around Glycine’s patents).
The original Rolex GMTs didn’t have bicolored bezels either, and the ones that they did have included Radium paint, and as such, were (and still are) notoriously radioactive.
This is a correct and fair statement.
The cool factor!!
I thought I was opening a bit of a can of worms here and I definitely bow to others superior knowledge on the subject! Rolex was there at the start regardless of whether they did mick the idea from someone else!
And of course they are the most imitated brand with no shadow of a doubt.
Your thread got a little derailed, but to bring it back to your original question: Many divers highlight the first 15 or 20 minutes with a different color or indicies. I can’t imagine a scenario where you need to time an event of an hour or less, but need to make special note of the 15 minute and the 45 minute marks. On this Casio, it’s just for looks. And that’s okay, because it looks very nice.
People like them and buy them.
Reason enough.