Sticking with undersea operations, the Oris ProDiver collection is an interesting one, given that Oris is one of the few watch companies that remains actively engaged in dealings with commercial divers. More specifically, Roman Frischknecht is a commercial diver that has been an Oris ambassador for some time, and rather than simply being an ambassador in name, Roman has played a crucial role in the development of the ProDiver collection ahead of its launch in 2009.It was his insight that led to the creation of the brand’s bezel locking system, known as a Rotation Safety System. Given the level of safety and security protocols involved in his line of work, Roman knew that if he was to be using a conventional dive watch in a modern dive environment, there could be absolutely no room for error, thus a locking mechanism (as seen in other divers like the Omega Ploprof, among others) would be mandatory.Although the roots of the Yacht-Master II relate to activities on the water’s surface rather than deep below, its unique functionality is perfectly suited to this category. After all, the Rolex Yacht-Master II is what is often referred to as yachting timer – a countdown chronograph that can be used to properly measure the start time of a regatta, also known as a sailing race.Arguably the most complex watch in the present Rolex collection, the Yacht-Master II uses an interesting combination of bezel position, crown position, and pusher action in order to set its countdown duration between 1 and 10 minutes, with the chronograph capable of flyback (or fly-forward) functionality to the pre-set time with a single activation of its lower pusher. While many Yacht-Master II wearers are unlikely to ever use this highly specific function for its actual intended purpose. being able to run a countdown like this isn’t shy on practical daily-life applications… grilling timer, anyone?
The Rolex Submariner has been a part of the Rolex catalog for well over 60 years. As expected, the famed dive watch has undergone plenty of design and mechanical enhancements over the past six decades, including the all-important timing bezel. Read on to discover all the different types of bezels of the Rolex Submariner.When Rolex debuted the Submariner in 1953, the stainless steel dive watch included a rotating bezel marked to 60 minutes to allow divers to track immersion times. The steel bezel turned both ways for simple timing adjusting, the edge of the bezel was knurled for easy gripping underwater, and the insert was fashioned from black aluminum.The printed 60-minute scale on the earlier versions included markings for every 5 minutes, alternating between batons and numerals. By the late 1950s, Rolex started to include hash marks for the first 15 minutes on the bezel followed by 5-minute markings.Around 1969, Rolex introduced the first yellow gold Submariner, the Submariner Date ref. 1680/8. Accordingly, the knurled rotating bezel was fashioned from 18k yellow gold. What’s more, the Rolex Submariner ref. 1680/8 now offered the choice of either a black or blue aluminum bezel insert and matching dial.
