Was there ever a more usless divers watch bezel than found on the SMP?

I'm bored - working from home here and frustrated beyond belief today (the joys of being surrounded by idiots... but that's another story).

As I work.... I have my 2010 SMP co-axial in front of me on a cloth. Some therapeutic bracelet cleaning has gone on by way of distraction. I've taken the bracelet off to clean all those crevices round the case - routine DNA removal if you like!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b9ddfdf6_b.jpg

One thing that's always struck me is just how utterly USELESS the bezel is on this watch. Its actually a very complex piece if you look at the detail - beautiful in fact - but for its purpose? a 300m diver? I'm a desk diver thank goodness. If I relied on THIS underwater, I'd be in trouble. Cant grip it under any circumstances:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...24577dcc_b.jpg

I've turned the bezel so little this past 9 years that in fairness, I think its stiffer than it should be. The watch doesnt get worn much and is probably due a service which will sort this, but this is a posers diver IMO.

Still love it and will never let it go as it was my 40th birthday present from my wife and son - but it really is useless!

I think there have been comments before about the un-gripability of the SMP bezel. Ive never owned one but it certainly looks like it would be less effective than the close scalloping of other offerings.

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Originally Posted by verv

I think there have been comments before about the un-gripability of the SMP bezel. Ive never owned one but it certainly looks like it would be less effective than the close scalloping of other offerings.

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There is literally nothing to grip. Only I've the bracelet off, I wouldn't get it a full turn. The bevelled complexity of it is all style, no substance - definitely a dress diver (if that's a thing!)

It's not the easiest, but I don't find it too bad on my blue one. However, there is an argument for having set it, not being able to easily alter it such as through brushing against a wetsuit etc.

If you think that is useless though, how about this one :D
https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/20...8f6fb1f8db.jpg

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Originally Posted by hafle

It's not the easiest, but I don't find it too bad on my blue one. However, there is an argument for having set it, not being able to easily alter it such as through brushing against a wetsuit etc

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Not easy to grip & rotate - but never going to be accidentally moved during a dive!

https://i.imgur.com/auR99L8.jpg
I've got the same bezel on my 2254, there are definitely easier bezels to grip!
I like the style of it but agree with you that it is suboptimal for the actual purpose of diving.

I found mine to be impossible to turn at times. There's virtually nothing to grip. unless you have very dry hands and strong fingers it's a struggle.

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Originally Posted by verv

I think there have been comments before about the un-gripability of the SMP bezel. Ive never owned one but it certainly looks like it would be less effective than the close scalloping of other offerings.

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I've got a 2254 and there's definitely a knack to it. I tend to push down from above and turn rather than grip from the side and it seems to work fine.

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Originally Posted by relaxer7

I've got a 2254 and there's definitely a knack to it. I tend to push down from above and turn rather than grip from the side and it seems to work fine.

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This is how I do it as well.

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Originally Posted by relaxer7

I've got a 2254 and there's definitely a knack to it. I tend to push down from above and turn rather than grip from the side and it seems to work fine.

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Also good to use the whole palm over the crystal and bezel... press-down and turn.

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Originally Posted by abraxas

Also good to use the whole palm over the crystal and bezel... press-down and turn.

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Mine must be seized through lack of use - I have it off the bracelet and can barely move it with any of the techniques mentioned here.

Service time I think.

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Originally Posted by JohnnyE

Mine must be seized through lack of use - I have it off the bracelet and can barely move it with any of the techniques mentioned here.

Service time I think.

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If you're happy with water resistance, sitting it in a plastic cup of warm soapy water for a few hours can soften and dissolve a lot of the filth you will have inflicted upon its interior over those years, you dirty man :eagerness: It may then turn more happily.

It is a weak design, though, yes.

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Originally Posted by JohnnyE

Mine must be seized through lack of use - I have it off the bracelet and can barely move it with any of the techniques mentioned here.

Service time I think.

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Dental floss!

I had a 2254 and when it arrived I thought the bezel was completely broken because I couldn't, however hard I tried, turn the bloody thing. I tried wearing rubber gloves, I tried it with a rubber grip wrench, but nothing worked.

A quick scout online and I discovered the dental floss trick. Wind it under the bezel and pull it back and forth, then rinse and repeat. After 5 minutes, enough crud came out and I could turn it a little. After that I turned it a full rotation every day by pushing down and twisting rather than trying to grip. It worked fine every time after the clean.

Agreed though, it's a very poor design on an otherwise lovely watch.

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Originally Posted by hafle

If you think that is useless though, how about this one :D
https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/20...8f6fb1f8db.jpg

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What makes it worse than any other GMT bezel? It allows you to track a third time zone, can't see what's useless about it.

I'm guessing you mean as a diving bezel?

Good tip on the dental floss.

I've had my 2254 for about 10 years and only used the bezel once, never again! Luckily the only thing I need to time is food and Amazon Echo or Siri do a better job of this.

It is pretty poor design though, at least you are never going to move it by accident.

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Originally Posted by Onelasttime

Dental floss!

I had a 2254 and when it arrived I thought the bezel was completely broken because I couldn't, however hard I tried, turn the bloody thing. I tried wearing rubber gloves, I tried it with a rubber grip wrench, but nothing worked.

A quick scout online and I discovered the dental floss trick. Wind it under the bezel and pull it back and forth, then rinse and repeat. After 5 minutes, enough crud came out and I could turn it a little. After that I turned it a full rotation every day by pushing down and twisting rather than trying to grip. It worked fine every time after the clean.

Agreed though, it's a very poor design on an otherwise lovely watch.

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Originally Posted by relaxer7

I've got a 2254 and there's definitely a knack to it. I tend to push down from above and turn rather than grip from the side and it seems to work fine.

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Thats the way to do it!

When everything's clean, the bezel will turn easily, but downward pressure always helps. This compresses the tangs on the bezel spring and makes it easier. Gripping the bezel isn’t as easy as it could ve, I think we’re all agreed on that.

Provided the watch us keeping water out, immersing it in dilute detergent and twisting the bezel will help to keep it clean, dirt builds up and needs cleaning out periodically.

I have come across corrosion of the aluminium insert that produced a white residue which caused the bezel insert to start lifting out of the bezel, this was an odd one but it can happen. Build- up if soap residues under the bezel can be a problem, that’s caused by showering frequently in the watch.

Unfortunately these bezels are difficult to remove to facilitate cleaning, I gave a specially made tool for the job but if the bezels full of crap it can still be difficult to get off.

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Originally Posted by Tetlee

What makes it worse than any other GMT bezel? It allows you to track a third time zone, can't see what's useless about it.

I'm guessing you mean as a diving bezel?

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Its been polished soft. Compare to the first bezel pictured.

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Originally Posted by Tetlee

What makes it worse than any other GMT bezel? It allows you to track a third time zone, can't see what's useless about it.

I'm guessing you mean as a diving bezel?

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Yes, just simply in terms of it being a divers watch that can't easily be used for diving.

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Originally Posted by verv

Its been polished soft. Compare to the first bezel pictured.

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That makes the bezel even harder to turn, besides spoiling the look.

There are ways and means to refinish these without losing the sharp edges but its not possible to remove deep damage. For me, that’s the worst aspect of the design, it doesn’t lend itself to refinishing easily, and often the only way to get the watch looking sharp again is to replace the bezel. The edges tend to pick up dings and nicks if the watch gets any sort if rough treatment too.

It is definitely a rubbish bezel for diving. I used mine for over 200 dives and it was a constant source of annoyance and frustration. The only way I found to reliably set it was to set the bezel just before I got into the water. Quite often I'd forget in the excitement of getting ready, and once in the water it was annoyingly difficult to do. Bear in mind as well that most dive sites don't let you wear gloves, so you're restricted to your own soggy fingers.

And yes, the 'press down and turn' method is the best, and prescribed, one, but that's even harder to do when you're bobbing in the ocean with wet hands.

Luckily these days the watch tens to be a backup for a computer, so it's not the end of the world, but if I had to depend on a dive watch I definitely wouldn't chose the SMP.

I must be the exception to the rule. I’ve never had any issues turning the bezels on either of my Seamasters. Then again, they both get serviced reasonably often.

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Originally Posted by hafle

Yes, just simply in terms of it being a divers watch that can't easily be used for diving.

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It's not a divers' watch per se, it's a GMT watch with 300m water-resistance. From memory (I haven't owned one for a long time), the bezel is bi-directional on the GMT, so not really suitable/safe for measuring elapsed time anyway.

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Originally Posted by JohnnyE

Mine must be seized through lack of use

Service time I think.

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Applies to a lot of Tz Members-Pun intended.

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Originally Posted by Hood

Applies to a lot of Tz Members-Pun intended.

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Lol... No comment!

Design over function, design wins in selling watches and only a limited amount of people will dive with it.
I really like my 2254 and bezel design but I don’t time anything or go diving..

The worst I had was a Steinhart Ocean Two (the older Mark 1 model). You could barely grip it to turn and your hands just skidded over the fairly smooth surface. Looked okay, but aweful to use.

https://i.postimg.cc/HnW4Qx8g/IMG-2902.jpg

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Originally Posted by hafle

Yes, just simply in terms of it being a divers watch that can't easily be used for diving.

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If we go off iso standards - it is not a diver's watch is it? Lack of minute markers.

is there any better bezel than on a Marathon?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOKxYANo9bM

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Originally Posted by walkerwek1958

Thats the way to do it!

I have come across corrosion of the aluminium insert that produced a white residue which caused the bezel insert to start lifting out of the bezel, this was an odd one but it can happen.

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Sorry 'bout that...

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Originally Posted by ENES

Not easy to grip & rotate - but never going to be accidentally moved during a dive!

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Whilst my favourite of the Omega divers (the bond with wavey lines and blue) I don't think I've ever seen anyone (or pics) of anyone diving with one. Ever.

Have any of you chaps dived with one?

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Originally Posted by 2012

Whilst my favourite of the Omega divers (the bond with wavey lines and blue) I don't think I've ever seen anyone (or pics) of anyone diving with one. Ever.

Have any of you chaps dived with one?

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I once dived over a hedge when someone's husband came home early once - does that count?

I agree, I am continually surprised that every new generation of the SMP retains the same bezel design.

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Originally Posted by jwg663

It's not a divers' watch per se, it's a GMT watch with 300m water-resistance. From memory (I haven't owned one for a long time), the bezel is bi-directional on the GMT, so not really suitable/safe for measuring elapsed time anyway.

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Exactly, and yes it is bi-directional.

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Originally Posted by Wallasey Runner

The worst I had was a Steinhart Ocean Two (the older Mark 1 model). You could barely grip it to turn and your hands just skidded over the fairly smooth surface. Looked okay, but aweful to use.

https://i.postimg.cc/HnW4Qx8g/IMG-2902.jpg

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You weren't saying that when you were trying to flog the thing! But yeah, you're right, it's awful to turn. Looks like it should be good but is so difficult to hold.

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Originally Posted by 2012

Whilst my favourite of the Omega divers (the bond with wavey lines and blue) I don't think I've ever seen anyone (or pics) of anyone diving with one. Ever.

Have any of you chaps dived with one?

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I dived with mine between 1996 and 2005.
France, Hurghada, Gili Islands, Greece and Turkey that I know for sure.

(Also swam with it during holidays. Still got it, but use my 200m WR Halios underwater these days.)

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Originally Posted by bwest76

is there any better bezel than on a Marathon?

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No!

Guys. I have to say there IS an easy way to turn the bezel on all these SMP that us NOT difficult. Is is possible to turn the bezel even with wet hands.

This is the method:
Place whole palm over the watch face so that your palm covers the watch face. Clasp the bezel with your palm and then twist your hand (or watch) and you can feel the clicks of the bezel as it turns. With a little practice it becomes easy and even with wet hand in the pool for example.

Please can those who own them try this method? I don’t have one in my collection at present.

hope that helps?


ah! I have just read through the whole post and see this is already covered ! M

Martyn.

Dental floss with a light coating of WD-40.
Worked a treat on my immovable vintage Seiko bezel.

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Originally Posted by 2012

Whilst my favourite of the Omega divers (the bond with wavey lines and blue) I don't think I've ever seen anyone (or pics) of anyone diving with one. Ever.

Have any of you chaps dived with one?

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Yes, used mine, the SMP bond style chrono for over ten years regularly until it was replaced with the Tag Aquagraph which is better for diving for me due to the best ever diving Chronograph.
I never had an issue when diving with the bezel on the Omega and the only people i have heard of saying it is not good do not appear to dive any way.

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Originally Posted by Papa Hotel

You weren't saying that when you were trying to flog the thing! But yeah, you're right, it's awful to turn. Looks like it should be good but is so difficult to hold.

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No, the Blue was an absolute swine, the Orange was silky smooth and one of the best ever 😂

I’m really surprised by some of the comments. I have at least 10 of them, and all mine are easy to turn, because they are clean and not covered in gunk under the bezels!

The palm technique works, but so does pressing a thumb and forefinger on opposite sides of the bezel and applying light pressure down at the same time as turning. This also worked with a very stiff bezel on an ex’s SMP when it was covered in washing up liquid! So I can’t see how it’s so hard for some people even with wet hands.

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Originally Posted by 2012

Whilst my favourite of the Omega divers (the bond with wavey lines and blue) I don't think I've ever seen anyone (or pics) of anyone diving with one. Ever.

Have any of you chaps dived with one?

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Seadog on here used to dive with one I seem to remember, think he might have used it in saturation too.

I always found that cleaning the watch with a toothbrush and warm soapy water and working the brush between the bezel and case used to free up the bezel really well.

My own Seamaster ('98 007) bezel is a monster to turn. I find it unusable, in practice.

My Alpina Seastrongs are a nightmare in this respect, too, due to a lack of grippy surfaces, plus a lack of overlap, and the shape of the main case! It's annoying because they are brilliant watches in so many ways, and I like to use them to time various things like cooking, but it's more trouble than it's worth!

https://jjaptq.db.files.1drv.com/y4m...&cropmode=none

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Originally Posted by Alansmithee

I once dived over a hedge when someone's husband came home early once - does that count?

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So you managed a few lengths with it on then?

In the water I mean.

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Originally Posted by bwest76

is there any better bezel than on a Marathon?

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Subjective of course but for me a Damasko bezel, easily the best bezel I've had or tried.