Bezels2 min read
How a timing (dive) bezel works
Track elapsed minutes at a glance — and why it only turns one way.
A timing bezel is a rotating ring marked from 0 to 60 minutes, with a triangle or lume pip at zero. It was designed for divers to track how long they had been underwater, but it works for anything: parking, cooking, meetings, laundry.
Timing elapsed minutes
- 1Rotate the bezel so the zero triangle lines up with the minute hand.
- 2Go about your business.
- 3Read the bezel number the minute hand now points at. That is the elapsed time.
- Started at
- 2:10
- Bezel reads
- 18 min
Time passes+18 min
The triangle was turned to the minute hand at the start. Wherever the minute hand points on the bezel is the elapsed time — no math needed.
Counting down instead
Need a reminder in 25 minutes? Rotate the bezel so the triangle sits 25 minutes ahead of the minute hand. When the minute hand reaches the triangle, time is up.