The New Yema x Alain Silberstein Marine Watch

If you’re following MONOCHROME, you might have witnessed the rather impressive rise of Yema, moving from a brand making nice, accessible vintage re-editions to now a strong advocate of French watchmaking, developing its own movements. For its latest creation, the Jura-based watchmaker is teaming up with renowned designer Alain Silberstein, bringing this new limited edition watch. But we’re not talking about just another dial, but an entirely new model fully designed by the man with an unprecedented case, and powered by a manufacture micro-rotor movement.

Alain Silberstein is among those names that only a few will know but who has created a unique style that is immediately recognizable. Driven by a rigorous method, inspired by the Bauhaus school, playing with primary colours and geometrical shapes, Silberstein’s work is unusual, captivating, segmenting and bold. While Silberstein had his own brand at a certain point, he’s now working in collaboration with multiple brands, adding his touch to existing models or, as is the case here, creating new models from scratch.

This is the main point here… We’re not talking about an existing Superman or a Navygraf that would have been merely transformed by Silberstein. This new Yema is an entirely new watch with an unprecedented case designed by Silberstein. A rather classic style for the man, this new Marine watch is built around a central cylindrical case with flat flanks. The overall construction is pretty clever too, in order to maintain very pleasant dimensions. The lugs are indeed an integral part of the caseback, which creates a seamless transition between the strap and the case, and making sure that this 40mm x 11mm case wears very comfortably. At 44.5mm in length, it’s fairly compact and very pleasant on the wrist.

This Yema x Alain Silberstein Marine watch evokes compressor watches of the past with its dual-crown architecture – the one at 2 o’clock actuates the bi-directional inner rotating bezel. It’s no real compressor (EPSA-like construction) but adds a sleek and original touch. The case is made of micro-blasted grade 5 titanium with black DLC coating, and offers a comfortable 200m water-resistance with its screwed back and screw-down crowns. It’s topped by a 2.20mm double-domed sapphire and remains fairly thin for such a dive(ish) watch.

The dial shows the unmistakable Silberstein touch. Known for his playful and colourful designs that blend art with horology, as well as his recurring use of geometrical shapes and primary colours, this is fairly evident in this new model. The semi-matte black dial features three-dimensional applied markers fully coated in Super-LumiNova – including some on the inner bezel – and bold touches of colour on the hands, each with a highly original design – red triangle for the hours, oversized yellow arrow for the minute and seastar-shaped blue seconds indicator. Despite the audacity of the design, all elements remain legible, night and day, with strong use of lume (Editor’s note: the Swiss Made mention at 6 o’clock you can see on the prototype photographed here will be replaced by “Manufacture Française” on the final version of the watch).

Under the sapphire back, decorated with electro-plated Koi fishes, is the manufacture calibre CMM.20. First presented in the context of a Wristmaster, it was conceived in Morteau (France) with the help of Olivier Mory. All components are either produced internally by Yema in Morteau (bridges and main plates) or by Swiss and French suppliers within a range of 72km from Morteau and then assembled by Yema. Not common in the context of sports watches, it is wound by a micro-rotor in tungsten mounted on ball bearings. Beating at a 4Hz frequency, it also boasts a comfortable 70h power reserve. The sapphire back reveals a neatly executed movement with matte surfaces and dark-coated bridges, including here a red-coated micro-rotor. Its accuracy is rated at -3/+7 seconds per day.

The Yema x Alain Silberstein Marine is worn on a nicely integrated black FKM rubber strap, closed by a DLC-coated titanium folding clasp. An additional dark red rubber strap is also included in the presentation box, for an even bolder look.

A limited edition of 500 pieces, the new Yema x Alain Silberstein will be available for pre-order as of Monday 21 October, with deliveries expected from February 2025. It will be priced at EUR 3,900 or USD 3,900. For more details, please visit yema.com.