Bezels in a watch, of course, have functional uses, especially in diver’s and GMT watches, but putting the ‘fun’ in functional are timepieces with coloured bezels. Serving the dual purposes of being tool watches but also adding an edge, here are seven watches with coloured bezels that stood out for us at the recently concluded Watches and Wonders 2023.
Tudor Black Bay and Black Bay GMT
Tudor’s iconic diving watch, the Black Bay, has a 2023 iteration that features a 60-minute unidirectional bezel in burgundy. The 41mm stainless steel timepiece juxtaposes this hue with a black dial that is brushed and domed, and features gold accents on the minute track, as well as on TUDOR’s ‘snowflake’ hands and hourmakers that also flaunt LumiNova®. Manufacture Calibre MT5602-U powers the watch and offers about 70 hours of reserve. The watch comes with a choice of three-link ‘rivet-style’ or five-oval-shaped-link bracelet or an additional rubber strap, all with a ‘T-fit’ rapid adjustment clasp to fit the wearer’s wrist.
Another is the Black Bay GMT, a coloured bezel watch that features a 24-hour bi-directional rotating bezel in burgundy and deep blue with anodised aluminium insert. This is contrasted with an ‘opaline dial with a matte white-grey finish obtained through the galvanic process. The watch is a 41mm 316L stainless steel one, with an integrated GMT function, a jumping hour hand, and a retrograde date-setting function. At 3 o’clock lies the date aperture. Powering it is the COSC-certified Manufacture Calibre MT5652, which offers about 70 hours of power reserve. The watch comes with a choice of either a three-link bracelet or the brand’s signature jacquard-woven fabric strap.
Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Yellow Magic
The Hublot Spirit of Big Bang models can be big, heavy pieces, coming in at 42mm and 45mm, but we were informed that the new 42mm Yellow Magic model works really well for women’s wrists as well. Having personally tried it, I can attest to the same. Plus, there is that yellow bezel to talk about.
The bright, polished yellow ceramic timepiece naturally grabs attention for its hue, which extends to the structured, lined rubber straps with a black ceramic and black-plated titanium deployant buckle clasp. The coloured bezel of the watch is yellow cerami that has been microblasted and polished; with six screws adding to the look. The dial of the chronograph watch is coated with anti-reflective sapphire, which allows one to view the self-winding skeleton chronograph movement MHUB4700 with the calendar display between 4 and 5 o'clock. The novelty offers a power reserve of 50 hours.
Rolex GMT-Master II
The iconic Rolex GMT-Master II, whose coloured bezels have resulted in watch nicknames like Coke, Pepsi, Hulk, Batman, Kermit, etc, got two new additions by way of 18K yellow gold (Ref. 126718GRNR) and yellow Rolesor (Ref. 126713GRNR) watches with Cerachrom bezel inserts in grey and black ceramic, a new colour combination for the brand. While a nickname is yet to become popular (stirrings of ‘The Black Knight’ have been heard), the watches’ black lacquer dial featuring an 18K yellow gold 24-hour hand and golden “GMT-Master II” text with lume-applied hour, minute and seconds hands and indices have already made an impression. At 3 o’clock lies the date window with Cyclops lens, and the watches are driven by Calibre 3285, offering about 70 hours of power reserve.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Blacklight Spin-Stone
Roger Dubuis’ Excalibur Blacklight Spin-Stone is just such a fun watch. It takes the signature design and ‘X’ of the Excalibur collection and infuses it with a certain light-heartedness via the synthetic spinels, or Spin-stones that glow in the dark. And they are not just one colour – they range from red and blue, to pink, purple, and aqua. These are placed on the bezel, as well as internal flange, along with on the ‘X’ of the dial. The 42mm watch’s bezel and caseback are crafted in corrosion-resistant EON gold, while the hour markers are plated with pink gold, polished, and filled with black Super-LumiNova.
Bell & Ross Diver White Bronze and GMT Blue
Bell & Ross’s aviation-inspired watches provide ample opportunity to work with the bezel in different ways. For 2023, the brand unveiled two coloured bezels watches. First is the BR 03-92 Diver White Bronze, a new 42mm diver’s watch with a polished and satin-finished CuSn8 bronze case and a pearl white dial. Its unidirectional rotating bezel, also in solid bronze has a brown anodised aluminium ring with a 60-minute scale. The skeletonised gold-plated metal hands feature SuperLumiNova®, and the date window lies between 4 and 5 o’clock. The watch is powered by the automatic calibre BR-CAL.302, and is water-resistant to 300 metres.
The second watch is the BR 03-93 GMT Blue, an update of the BR 03-51 GMT Titanium launched in 2007. The 42mm stainless steel watch features a bidirectional rotating bezel having a 24-hour scale marked in blue- and grey-coloured anodised aluminium ring. The blue sunray dial has indices and skeletonised hands filled with green Super-LumiNova®, and the red hand indicates the GMT function. The Automatic calibre BR-CAL.303 powers the watch and the watch offers a water resistance of up to 100 metres.
Images: Courtesy brands
Also Read :
Watches and Wonders 2023: The watches that stood out
|
Watches and Wonders 2023: Vacheron Constantin's novelties exude elegance
|
Watches and Wonders 2023: Patek Philippe unveils 17 new models in Geneva
More In features
Sign up for our newsletters to have the latest stories delivered to your inbox
