YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff

Over the last few months we've had the pleasure of reviewing a few watches from French brand Yema as well as some watches that French designer Romaric Andre (seconde/seconde/) has worked on. Today we're going to be reviewing a watch that these two French powerhouses collaborated on. When YEMA contacted us and asked if we'd be interested in reviewing this yet to be announced piece I was super excited to see what they had up their sleeves. I had no idea what the watch was until it arrived a few weeks later.

Before we get into the new collaboration between YEMA and seconde/seconde/ let's first go over the history of both YEMA and Romaric Andre. If you would like a much more detailed history of YEMA, please read our review of the Superman Gilt CMM.10 where we take an in-depth look at the brand. Otherwise, here is a brief history of the YEMA.



YEMA was founded in the cradle of French watchmaking, Besancon, in 1948 by Henry Louis Belmont. Soon after its inception YEMA was known for producing innovative and durable timepieces. The brand really hit its stride in the 1960s marked by the release of the Superman in 1963. The dive watch as we know it was still less than ten years old at the time and the Superman debuted an ingenious bezel lock system that made sure fatal dive time mistakes could not happen while wearing the watch.

1966 saw the release of both the Yachtingraf and the Rallygraf. The Yachtingraf was a chronograph designed by sailing and regattas while the Rallygraf was a chronograph intended for use in motorsports. The Rallygraf gained international acclaim when it was worn by racing legend Mario Andretti. During the 1960s YEMA also became the leading exporter of watches from France.



The 1980s also saw great achievements by YEMA including the Spationaute I which was worn by French astronaut Jean-Loup Chretien into space in 1982, making it the first French watch worn into space. The Spationaute II would follow up in 1985 travelling with Patrick Baudry on the Space Shuttle Discovery. The late 80s also saw the Richard Mille designed Bipole used on expeditions to the North and South Poles worn by explorers Dr. Jean-Louis Etienne and Will Steger. The YEMA Bipole is a watch I proudly picked up earlier in the year and currently is the only quartz watch in my collection.

The following decades saw YEMA's ownership change from being acquired by Seiko in 1988 to then being returned to French hands in 2004. Finally finding its current owners in French watchmaking group Montres Ambre. Under this new ownership YEMA has really blossomed and is now even producing its own in-house calibers. YEMA has also brought back many of its revered models from the past and given them new updated lives.



On the other hand Romaric Andre started his professional career in finance after graduating from business school in France. Romaric's first venture in the watch world was co-founding Celsius X VI II with now Co-CEO of Moser Edouard Meylan. Celsius looked to merge the world of high watchmaking with mobile phones. The company even had Richard Mille on board as an advisor and board member. While the venture was truly innovative and ambitious in the end it did not become profitable and ceased operations.

Romaric found his second calling in watches when with the encouragement of his wife he started modifying vintage watches with bright, often 8 bit art inspired, seconds hands and reselling them. With this seconde/seconde/ was born. In the time since seconde/seconde/ has transitioned to working directly with brands to modify existing watches in their catalogs to bring forth Romaric's playful take on watch design. I can't think of any current designer that is in as much demand as Romaric currently is.





Initial Thoughts

The two teaming up isn't just the combining of two French watch superpowers, but it is also two of my favorite entities in the watch world getting together. YEMA has always been very receptive to Hourstriker and was one of the first brands to send us watches to review. Romaric is somebody I will often message from time to time to get his opinion of various watch related topics and he always takes time out of his busy schedule to humor me.

Not having any idea what to expect from the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ collaboration I was extremely anxious for the watch to show up. Unfortunately the watch showed up the same day as a personal grail piece of mine also arrived. The Porsche Design by IWC Ocean 2000 I had been looking for a year for showed up just before the collaboration piece. Being a nearly 40 year old watch and with me being a bit OCD I had to stop everything I was doing to take the watch to a watchmaker and make sure it all checked out.



The next day I finally had some time to look over the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff. At first I didn't know what to think about the watch and what its inspiration and story were, so I once again hit up Romaric and asked him to explain it to me. He pointed out a lot of things I completely missed just looking at the watch and then it all started to make sense.

The inspiration for this model was the 1968 Yachtingraf which was a regatta timer. Romaric then added elements to the dial and case that made it seem as if the original version had been tagged graffiti style, giving the colorful dial a somewhat mischievous appearance.

The first thing I noticed about the Yachtingraff were the two chronograph pushers. Romaric has added circular engravings to sides of the pushers and filled the top in with blue and the bottom with red. Looking at the pushers you can tell they now look exactly like the caps of spray paint cans. The design is extremely subtle, but when you see it, it's very hard to miss.

The next thing I noticed about the Yachtingraff were the additional elements added to the dial of the standard Yachtingraf Croisiere. Probably the most obvious addition is seconds "F" tagged on to the end of the standard Yachtingraf text at 12 o'clock. Next the 24 hour display and chronograph minute subdials have transformed from being flat on the original model to being 3D adding very nice depth to the dial. The coloring of these subdials and their numerals are also much less precise than the original giving them a look of being painted on. Finally there are paint drips and overspray on each of the subdials. All this combines to make the Yachtingraff resemble the Yachtingraf Croisiere, but also look like its own completely unique watch.



The final thing I noticed about the Yachtingraff during my initial time with the watch was its vintage inspired Tropic rubber strap. Tropic rubber straps were very popular with early dive watches and not only give the Yachtingraff a time appropriate look, but also makes the watch extremely comfortable to wear. This kind of rubber strap is not offered on the standard Yachtingraf Croisiere, so it's nice to see it come standard on the Yachtingraff.



Technical Specifications

The YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff is crafted out of 316L stainless steel and has a case diameter of 38.5 mm with a lug to lug length of 45.9 mm. The watch weighs in at 65 grams on the rubber strap and is 13.7 mm tall at its thickest point. Much of this thickness (2 mm) can be attributed to the use of a double domed glass box style hesalite crystal.

The raised hesalite crystal gives you a stunning view of the dial beneath. The Yachtingraff uses a flat black dial that gives the additional painted elements that much more punch. Around the outside of the dial is a black and white minute track. YEMA uses polished applied stick hour markers along the minute track as well. The marker at 9 o'clock is missing due to the large big eye nature of the chronograph minute subdial.



At 12 o'clock you have the YEMA logo and branding as well as the Yachtingraf text which now has the extra "F" tagged on to the end of the word. "Graff" is also underlined in red here, which is also a reference to graffiti art in French.

There are three centrally mounted hands on the Yachtingraff being the hour, minute and chronograph seconds hands. The hour and minute hands are traditional pencil style polished hands which feature Super-Luminova BGW9 in their centers that glows greenish-blue in low light. These are the only lumed elements on the Yachtingraff. The chronograph seconds hand is painted white and features a white tip. Using a mecha-quartz movement, YEMA is able to achieve a somewhat smooth sweep to the chronograph seconds hand when running.

The Yachtingraff features three subdials which complete its dial, two of which are hand painted. At 3 o'clock you have the 24 hour time display. This subdial has a three dimensional recessed red cross painted on it with 24, 6, 12 and 18 hour numerals. The hash marks along with the numerals have an imprecise quality to them looking painted. The design of these numerals and hash marks is replicated on the other two subdials as well. The 24 hour hand is painted black and features an arrow tip.



At 6 o'clock there is a recessed black running seconds subdial with 60, 20 and 40 getting Arabic numerals. The white painted hand is simple in design and has a more traditional quartz one second tick to it. Finally at 9 o'clock is the chronograph / regatta minute subdial. The subdial is divided into six even sections with two done in red, one uncolored (white), two in blue and one with blue and white stripes. Traditionally this big eye counter would be used to time the countdown to the start of a sailing race, but here it can be used for something as simple as timing your microwave snacks.

Also as mentioned earlier, the subdials at 3 and 9 o'clock also feature white overspray and paint drips along the bottom of the dials. Another fun tie in is that the chronograph pushers caps are for red and blue spray paint which matches the sprayed colors on the dial.

The case of the Yachtingraff uses a mixture of finishes. The bezel is fully polished as are the chamfers and top of the lugs. The inner lugs and mid-case are then brushed in finish. This mixture of finishes really gives the Yachtingraff a sporty yet luxurious appearance. Thus blending the two worlds of the Yacht club and the streets which its graffiti style dial would be more at home on.

Looking at the profile of the case, you can see that the lugs have a rather aggressive down turn to follow the shape of your wrist. On the right hand side of the case you have the two spray paint cap pushers used to control the chronograph along with a non-screw down crown.



The crown is nicely scalloped and has a satin finished top complete with the YEMA logo. Even without a screw down crown the Yachtingraff is good to 100 meters of water resistance. Since there is no date function on the watch, there is only one crown position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the time and also stops the running seconds hand. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minutes hand either.

The top (blue) chronograph pusher starts and stops the chronograph, which has a nearly smooth sweep to it.The bottom (red) chronograph pusher then resets the chronograph hands. A nice added feature is that the chronograph does not need to be stopped to be able to reset it. The chronograph pushers work with a satisfying click to them as well, nothing feels spongy in their action.

The lug width of the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff is 19 mm and the watch comes on a rubber Tropic strap. The black Tropic strap tapers down from 19 mm at the lugs down to 18 mm at the brushed pin buckle featuring the YEMA logo. The strap is incredibly supple and required no break in time to be very comfortable.



Flipping the watch over shows off the solid screw down case back which features engravings for Morteau, France where YEMA is based and also 10 BAR for the 100 meters of water resistance. There is a recessed area in the middle of the case back with a grained texture that has the phrase "La Croisiere, ma muse" engraved into along with the seconde/seconde/ signature. The translation of the phrase being "The cruise, my muse". This is a nod to the original YEMA Yachtingraf being the muse for Romaric on this new design. The phrase is also a play on the wildly popular older television show, The Love Boat in French.

Underneath the solid caseback is the Japanese made Seiko VK63 hybrid mechanical-quartz movement. The movement operates at 32,768 Hz and has around three years of battery life with an accuracy of + or – 20 seconds per month. The functions are hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph and 24 hour display.



On The Wrist

While the entire watch world has been shifting down to smaller case sizes, I've been stuck around that 50 mm or so lug to lug length for my personal watches. I've begun to realize that while those grail watches in my collection are around that size or larger, sometimes they aren't the best watches to wear often. While I love their design and feel they need to be the large sizes they are, I've begun to warm up slightly to some smaller cases.



With that being said, it did take me a bit of time to get used to a watch with a sub 46 mm lug to lug length. As I'm writing this the Yachtingraff is sitting next to my IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Top Gun which I'm wearing to an Ulysse Nardin event tonight here in Austin. That watch has a case diameter of 48 mm, which is 2 mm larger than the lug to lug of the Yachtingraff. When you factor in the lug to lug length of the Big Pilot Perpetual, it is the biggest watch in my personal collection, so an extreme. That watch feels like the largest watch I could pull of with hardly any overhang, while on the other end of the spectrum the Yachtingraff is the smallest watch I would feel comfortable with on my wrist. For context I'm 6'2 and 200 lbs with a 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area.

Once I was able to get over my personal issues with case size and wore the Yachtingraff more and more, I really started to love the watch. With a total weight of 65 grams, the watch just disappears on the wrist. While running errands the watch just goes away until you need it. The excellent rubber Tropic strap also makes the watch as comfortable as could be. The weight and comfort make the Yachtingraff the ideal companion for running errands and everyday life.



Having a pretty laid back lifestyle and also having worked from home over the past 20 plus years means that I've never needed a subtle or dress watch. This has allowed me to only collect more out there and oversized pieces. With how much I like the Yachtingraff, I feel I could find instances where it would much better fit the situation than an Offshore, Fifty Fathoms or Big Pilot. I feel the Tropic strap even looks classy enough to wear in more formal settings. A nice leather strap would really class up the watch nicely as well.

My wife wore the Yema x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff equal times to me on her 5'2 frame with a just under a 5.5 inch wrist. The watch looked perfectly proportionate on her and she said she really enjoyed wearing it as well. She is a bit more used to quartz watches, owning a handful, as opposed to the sole quartz YEMA timepiece that I own. This goes to prove that the Yachtingraff looked just as at home on a 5'2 female as it did on a 6'2 male, meaning the watch can really work for anyone.

To test the legibility of a watch I use the simple test of seeing how hard it is to tell the time with just a quick glance while driving. Typically oversized divers with high contrast dials and large hour markers excel at this and skeletonized watches do the worst. I wasn't really sure what to expect with the Yachtingraff but was pleasantly surprised to report that the watch passed the test fairly well. The polished hour markers add a lot of contrast to the matte black dial and when used with the polished hands time telling at a glance was rather easy. With only the hour and minute hands featuring lume, telling the time in low light situations took a bit more patience.



During our time with the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff we wore the watch out to dinner and drinks a few times as well as a to a watch release event for Ulysse Nardin. The Yachtingraff was noticed by more than a few people and we fielded a lot of questions about the watch along with many compliments. Most people knew about YEMA as well as seconde/seconde/ which was nice to hear. Everyone just loved the sub-dials and got a kick out of the chronograph spray paint cap pushers. By far everyone was also blown away by the price.

I also must mention that the first run of the YEMA Yachtingraffs will be 500 pieces, which are expected to sell out rather quickly. In a surprising move, YEMA is not going to limit the production to time or number and will produce more Yachtingraff timepieces as demand calls for. It's nice to see a brand not double down on a limited edition, especially one as interesting as this.



Value and Position in the Market

In terms of price, the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff has a retail price of $449. For that price you are getting a watch based on an important legacy product from YEMA and updated for today by the most in demand watch designer in Romaric Andre. Now would be a good time to look at some other watches that offer similar features and specifications and see how the Yachtingraff holds up value wise.



Up first we have the traditional Yachtingraf Croisiere from YEMA. The Yachtingraf unsurprisingly shares all the same specifications as the Yachtingraff including dimensions, case material and movement. Where the watch differs is in the dial, chronograph pushers and strap. The Yachtingraf has a standard blue or white dial with flat subdials. The chronograph pushers are also normal pushers and the watch comes on a leather strap. These watches would work perfectly for a more reserved owner than the more out there Yachtingraff. Personally we really like the touches added by seconde/seconde/. The Yachtingraf is also slightly less expensive than the Yachtingraff at $369.

Next we have the Baltic Scalegraph Tour Auto 2025 which is crafted out of stainless steel and has a 39.5 mm case diameter. The Scalegraph doesn't feature a regatta timer but does have a chronograph with a big eye subdial. The Baltic is powered by a mechanical hand-wound movement produced by Sellita and has 63 hours of power reserve. The Scalegraph also has a water resistance of 100 meters. The Scalegraph is much more expensive than the Yachtingraff at $2,000.

Moving on we have the Rosso Grigio from Furlan Marri which has a 38 mm stainless case. The Rosso Grigio also does not have a regatta timer but does feature a chronograph with vintage looks. The Rosso Grigio has the same Seiko mecha-quartz movement as the Yachtingraff. The Rosso Grigio only has half the water resistance of the Yachtingraff at 50 meters. The Rosso Grigio is also a good deal more expensive at around $715.



Finally we have the Chronomaster Broad Arrow from Nivada Grenchen which has a 38 mm stainless steel case. The Broad Arrow has a vintage chronograph look complete with a dive bezel. The Broad Arrow is powered by a Landeron 70 hand-wound mechanical movement similar to a Valjoux 7750 and has 100 meters of water resistance. The Broad Arrow is a good deal more expensive than the Yachtingraff at $2,000.

Looking at these four watches you can tell how great of a value the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff is. Moving up from a mecha-quatz movement to a mechanical caliber drastically increases the price and the mecha-quartz movement still gives you a pretty smooth sweep to the chronograph seconds hand while having years of battery life. The added touches Romaric adds to the dial and chronograph pushers along with hand painted elements really re-enforce how much of a bargain the Yachtingraff is at $449.



Closing Thoughts

So in the end is the YEMA x seconde/seconde/ Yachtingraff for me? There are a lot of things the Yachtingraff just doesn't meet in a watch I look for personally. These being the under 50 mm lug to lug length, being crafted out of stainless steel and having a quartz movement. For most watches this would be the kiss of death, but for some reason they aren't with the Yachtingraff.



I just really like the Yachtingraff and what YEMA and Romaric were able to do with the watch. Do I wish it was 3 to 4 mm larger, sure, but I actually got used to wearing the watch and really enjoyed it. I also started my quartz collecting journey recently with a vintage YEMA, so it kind of makes sense in my collection. The subtle touches like the chronograph pusher design do just as much to elevate the watch as the more obvious dial changes do. I really feel like YEMA and seconde/seconde/ hit a home run with this release.

My wife also fell in love with the Yachtingraff after the first time she put it on. I do feel that the watch fits her smaller wrist just perfectly and she would actually ask if I could get it from the safe each time we've left the house recently.

So would I recommend the Yachtingraff to somebody looking for a smaller sports chronograph? I would recommend this watch in a heartbeat to that person, especially if they enjoy more off-centered watches. The Yachtingraff still has a traditional and vintage look to it from a distance, but up close the watch is just something else. Also for the price you really can't go wrong!



I'd really like to thank YEMA for thinking about us and sending the Yachtingraff prior to its release so that we had time to get familiar with the watch. Like previous watches YEMA has sent us to review, the Yachtingraff is another solid timepiece punching well above its weight class. The design changes made by seconde/seconde/ really take the watch to the next level. I'm very happy to see the Yachtingraff not being sold as an unobtainable limited edition and have a feeling the watch will be in YEMAs catalog for a long time.

For more information about the Yachtingraff please visit : YEMA



Technical Specifications

Reference Number: YMHF1588-ATPS

Retail Price: $449

Case Size: 38.5 mm

Lug to Lug: 45.9 mm

Thickness: 13.7 mm

Weight: 65 grams

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Bezel: Stainless Steel

Strap: Black Tropic Rubber Strap with Pin Buckle

Movement: Japanese Made Seiko VK63 Hybrid Mechanical-Quartz

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, 24 Hour Display and Chronograph

Power Reserve: 3 Years

Water Resistance: 100 Meters