What is a bezel for a flashlight?

[mudskipper]

I was looking up parts for my PT 40 and I came upon a bezel at Brightguy.com. What is a bezel?

[greenLED]

the bezel is the "head" of the flashlight.

[elgarak]

From Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Main Entry: be·zel
Pronunciation: 'bE-z&l, 'be-
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from dialect form of French biseau bezel, from Middle French
1 : a rim that holds a transparent covering (as on a watch, clock, or headlight) or that is rotatable and has special markings (as on a watch)
2 : the oblique side or face of a cut gem; specifically : the upper faceted portion of a brilliant projecting from the setting -- see BRILLIANT illustration
3 : a usually metal rim of a piece of jewelry in which an ornament (as a gem) is set

To us, definition 1 applies. In flashaholic terms, it's the ring that holds the lens in place. So it's the very front of the flashlight.

[Size15's]

That's not quite how I define a flashlight bezel.

The bezel of a flashlight "head" that screws onto the body (rather than just the ring (if there is one) that retains the window)

These are bezels:


And the bezels are labelled:


This may not be the dictionay definition but it's what "bezel" means round here.

Al

[greenLED]

I was referring to the same thing as Al. I think of what elgarak points out as a "bezel ring", regardless of what the dictionary says.