French brand Yema has established a foothold in the watch world with its robust tool watches, such as models such as the mighty 300 waterproof Superman Skin Diver from 1963. Proud of its French roots, Yema formed strategic alliances with the French Navy (Marine Nationale) to develop military tool watches. Based on its 1970s Navygraf diving watch, Yema supplied the French Navy with the official Navygraf Marine Nationale in 2021. In 2024, the Navygraf revamped its look with a sleeker, sleeker and more modern 39mm case powered by Yema's automatic micro-rotor caliber, the CMM.20. Today, the Navygraf Pearl from Yema is a somewhat surprising update to her wardrobe and features a shimmering mother-of-pearl dial and bezel.
Introduced in the early 1970s, the Navygraf was a simplified version of the Superman without the distinctive bezel lock. Designed as a partner for recreational divers, the Navygraf featured a Bakelite bezel insert, distinctive exclamation marks and water resistance to 200 m. The Navygraf Slim, on which this Pearl edition is based, is now positioned as a versatile sports watch with a more compact diameter and slimmer height, measuring 39 mm in diameter and a slim profile of just 9.5 mm (excluding the 2.2 mm double-domed sapphire crystal above the dial).
If you think about it, a mother-of-pearl dial isn't such a strange choice of material for a dive watch. Finally, the molluscs, or oysters, that produce high-quality nacre thrive in tropical underwater regions such as the Indo-Pacific. The beauty of natural mother of pearl lies in its delicate iridescence created by light waves as they penetrate the calcium carbonate layers. Depending on the incidence of light, the surface creates a lively, shimmering play of colors.
While mother-of-pearl dials are widely used in watchmaking, Yema has also introduced mother-of-pearl on the bezel. Without sacrificing the character of a diving watch, the notched, unidirectional rotating bezel with white markings has a mother-of-pearl inlay under the sapphire crystal ring. Presented in aqua blue mother-of-pearl and a darker Tahitian mother-of-pearl alternative, the two models really catch the eye with their ever-changing colors and textures. The dial features circular indices with rectangles and arrows at 15-minute intervals and has been adopted from the Superman hand with an arrow-shaped minute hand, all with white Super-LumiNova coating.
Similar to the Navygraf Slim, the Navygraf Pearl's stainless steel case features a pointed crown guard and short, angular lugs with a vertically brushed finish and polished bevels. The large screw-down crown and screw-down caseback guarantee a water resistance of 200 m, which is inexplicably 100 m less than the Navygraf Slim.
Equipped with Yema's slim 3.7mm automatic movement, caliber CMM.20, the bi-directional tungsten micro-rotor is mounted on ball bearings and delivers energy to the mainspring for a robust 70-hour power reserve. The sapphire crystal back offers a view of the contemporary movement with dark-coated bridges decorated with radiant Geneva stripes.
Both editions of the Yema Navygraf Pearl CMM.20 are available with a black FKM rubber strap or a steel bracelet. The blue mother-of-pearl dial is a limited edition of 200 pieces and retails 2,299 euros on the bracelet and 2,049 euros on the rubber strap. The darker mop dial costs 2,249 euros on the bracelet and 1,990 euros on the rubber strap. More information at yema.com.
https://monochrome-watches.com/yema-navygraf-pearl-cmm20-micro-rotor-mother-of-pearl-dial-and-bezel-dive-watch-introducing-price/