Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Yema Navygraf Pearl CMM.20 Flaunts a Mother-of-Pearl Dial and Bezel
Spruced up with a shimmering mother-of-pearl dial and bezel, the Navygraf looks good below and above deck.
French brand Yema got a foothold in the watch world with its rugged tool watches, exemplified by models like the mighty 300 water-resistant Superman skin diver of 1963. Proud of its French roots, Yema secured strategic alliances with the French Navy (Marine Nationale) to develop military tool watches. Based on its 1970s Navygraf dive watch, Yema supplied the French Navy with its official Navygraf Marine Nationale in 2021. Revisited in 2024, the Navygraf spruced up its looks with a sleeker, slimmer and more contemporary 39mm case powered by Yema’s automatic calibre with micro-rotor, the CMM.20. Today, in a somewhat surprising wardrobe upgrade, Yema’s Navygraf Pearl sports a shimmering mother-of-pearl dial and bezel.
The Navygraf, introduced in the early 1970s, was a simplified version of the Superman, without the prominent bezel lock. Envisioned as a partner for recreational divers, the Navygraf featured a bakelite bezel insert, distinctive exclamation-point markers, and 200m water-resistance. Now positioned as a versatile sports watch with a more compact diameter and a slimmer height, the Navygraf Slim, on which this Pearl edition is based, has a 39mm diameter and a lean profile of just 9.5mm (excluding the 2.2mm double-domed sapphire crystal over the dial).
Thinking about it, a mother-of-pearl dial is not such a strange material choice for a dive watch. After all, the molluscs or oysters that produce high-quality mother-of-pearl thrive in tropical underwater regions like the Indo-Pacific. The beauty of natural mother-of-pearl is its delicate iridescence produced by light waves as they pass through the layers of calcium carbonate. Depending on the angle of light, the surface produces a vibrant, shimmering play of colours.
While mother-of-pearl dials are widely used in watchmaking, Yema has also introduced nacre on the bezel. Without abandoning its dive watch credentials, the notched unidirectional bezel with white markings features a mother-of-pearl inlay underneath 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-shifting colours and textures. The dial, which has applied circular indices with rectangles and arrows at 15-minute intervals, has adopted the Superman handset with an arrow-tipped minute hand, all treated with white Super-LumiNova.
Similar to the Navygraf Slim, the stainless steel case of the Navygraf Pearl has pointed crown guards and short, angular lugs, with a vertical brushed surface and polished bevels. The large screw-down crown and screwed caseback guarantee the 200m water-resistance, which is inexplicably 100m less than the Navygraf Slim.
Equipped with Yema’s slim 3.7mm automatic movement, calibre CMM.20, the bidirectional tungsten micro-rotor is mounted on ball bearings and delivers energy to the mainspring for a robust 70-hour power reserve. The sapphire crystal caseback offers a view of the contemporary movement with dark-coated bridges decorated with radiating Côtes de Genève.
Both editions of the Yema Navygraf Pearl CMM.20 are available on a black FKM rubber strap or a steel bracelet. The blue mother-of-pearl dial is a limited edition of 200 pieces and retails for EUR 2,299 on the bracelet and EUR 2,049 on the rubber strap. The darker mop dial retails for EUR 2,249 on the bracelet and EUR 1,990 on the rubber strap. More information at yema.com.
