Tachometer and the bezel

WHAT IS A TACHOMETER AND LÜNET

How to Use the TACHOMETER (Tachymeter) and Bezel on Your Watch.

LÜNICE (Bezel)

Dear customers, 

We continue to share our knowledge and observations on the watch issue. 

Pay attention to the part of the clock marked as L.ünice or bezel.

If you've heard this term many times but don't know what it is, please read on.

The bezel is a watch component between the glass and the case. This is the final stage of attaching the glass to the case, hides the thickness of the glass and brings the glass and watch case into one plane.

Additional functionality of the Lünice:

Many watch models have the additional functionality of a bezel:

Rotatable bezel

I explain with an example: 

Mentally copy the minute markers from the dial to the bezel and make the L.ünice rotatable. 

Imagine: Now 14.24:15 and you have to follow exactly XNUMX minutes.

It's pretty difficult: quickly count 14.24:15 +XNUMX minutes, find the right place on the dial and check. That's pretty hard to do right now, isn't it?

Now turn the Lünice with the minute markers so that 12.00 on the Lünicely coincides with the current position of the minute hand.

It's easy to watch 15 minutes now, isn't it?

There are two types of rotating Lünice: with rotation in one or both directions. Unidirectional rotating bezels are often found in diving watches. It is used under life threatening moments in order that would not be possible  Lünice to move accidentally.

If the bezel accidentally rotates clockwise, nothing terrible will happen. For example, a diver ascends from a depth before the oxygen is depleted. 

The dive did not go according to plan but it will stay alive! 

Accidental rotation in the opposite direction would lead to a lack of oxygen with all disastrous consequences.

Perhaps there are other fundamentally significant reasons. If you know such, please describe in article comments. We will be very grateful to you.

GMT display

It is not uncommon for there to be a 24-hour mark on the bezel. Most of these clocks have an additional hand called a GMT hand. 

This hand moves twice as slowly as a normal hour hand. The clock thus shows a time in 24-hour format.

This feature is very useful in Las Vegas :)

People who visit casinos know that very often there are no windows so that customers lose track of time.

Everywhere where it is impossible to determine the time of day in daylight, for example in St. Petersburg on «White Nights», This feature is very useful.

This watch part is perfect for adding an extra touch of elegance to the watch. 

Soon GMT pointer is made of gold, ceramic or set with crystals. 

Manufacturers often use different metal finishes for the case and bezel.

Eg case made of satined and bezel made of polished steel or case made of steel and bezel made of gold.

That is called Bi Color Still.

TACHOMETER (Tachymeter)

If you see a lot of incomprehensible numbers on the bezel, it is most likely a TACHOMETER (tachymeter).

This scale is used to determine the speed and there are watches with so-called chronographs (stopwatches).

Mechanical speed detection looks pretty dated these days, but as a classic engineering art, it's pretty interesting.

This of course is an old invention and only works in semi-automatic mode.

To use this, you should first know the length of the path. 

The bottom line is simple: at the beginning of the journey you press the start of your chronograph and at the end of the kilometer you stop. 

The stopwatch hand shows your average speed on the tachymeter scale. 

Please note: the tachymeter scale works at speeds from 60 km / h, if you move more slowly, the measured values ​​will not be correct.

The Swiss brand Breitling succeeded in introducing a slide rule into their models with the help of the bezel. In further articles on our blog we will tell you how this functionality can be used.