GMT Bezel Lume Query

[shedlock2000]

I was just flicking through the forum and noticed @Mario41s photo of his Batperson GMTIIc. This made me return to a thought I’ve been wrestling with for ages:

Wayyyy back in the day, reference 6542s had lumed bezels — a very logical addition to those of us who travel regularly and who yearn for such functionality.




When they brought out the 1675, the watch I now have, the switch to aluminium bezels presumably resulted in the lume being impossible.





And thus it remained until the 116710c came out.




Now, a lumed bezel is a very useful addition — especially for those of us who actually use the bezel for its intended purpose. Yet, surprisingly, lumed bezels of any description are fairly rare (the GS GMT not withstanding... I’d probably own one if it wasn’t 44mm and spring drive).





So, returning to the inspiration for this post, the open recess where the numbers of the ceramic bezel are milled:




Does anyone know why has Rolex not started to fill these mill-grooves with lume instead of platinum? And, if it’s not possible because they’re too exposed and fragile, my next question is why not create some mechanism that isn’t!

A photo of the ‘Tested Beyond Endurance’ bezel lume from the... Endurance to show that bezel lume can... well... endure:








Photo credits to: Time Tide; Pinterest: longspanbridge; rolexblog.blogspot.com; mikemullaneyphotography; and me.


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