Bakelite is a trademark name for phenol-formaldehyde synthetic resin, the first plastic made entirely by synthesis. It matters in watchmaking because of bezels. In the mid-20th century it was a common bezel material on dive watches and on pilot’s watches with turning bezels.
Where it comes from
The chemist Leo Baekeland was born in Ghent, Belgium, in 1863 and later became an American. He developed the material in Yonkers, New York, in 1907. He heated phenol with formaldehyde while an acid or a base was present. The result was a hard substance that could be moulded. Today we would call it a plastic. He received a patent for it in December 1909. Bakelite was not the first plastic. Earlier celluloid came from plant matter such as cotton. Bakelite was not made from plant matter. Before it, electrical insulators were made from shellac, a natural material. Bakelite was light, fairly durable and easy to mould.
Which Rolex watches had Bakelite bezels?
The first Rolex GMT-Master, reference 6542, appeared in the mid-1950s. It had a two-colour Bakelite bezel insert. The markings on the insert were lumed with radium. Rolex also made a one-colour burgundy Bakelite bezel. It was fitted to the versions of the 6542 made in solid 18k yellow gold. Bakelite therefore appears on the 6542 in two forms: an insert in two colours, and a plain burgundy one.
Why are original Bakelite bezels rare?
Bakelite turned out to be too brittle for bezel inserts. It tended to crack. When damaged watches came in, Rolex service centres usually swapped the Bakelite bezel for an aluminium one. Many inserts were lost this way. As a result, original Bakelite inserts are now hard to find. A GMT-Master 6542 that still wears its Bakelite insert is uncommon.
Not to be confused with
Catalin is also a phenolic resin, so the two materials are closely related. The difference lies in the fillers mixed into the resin. Catalin uses other mineral fillers, and these let it be made in pale colours. The names are not interchangeable. Catalin is a separate material in the same family, not another name for Bakelite.
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