Retrospective: Digging Into The Yema Yachtingraf’s Sophisticated Design

The Yema Yachtingraf had been on my list for years. When the opportunity came to snap an untouched piece in an original box, I didn’t hesitate. Then, it sat on my list of article ideas for a few years. Well, its time has finally come, so let’s look at it.

I don’t think it’s just me; most collectors I know get excited when the discussion turns to yachting chronographs. Visually, they are so vivid that it seems like they are talking to us. They are colorful, playful, and have interesting, often uniquely shaped hands in the race-prep-timing register. The sub-seconds counters on regatta timers are smaller and pushed into the background. On the contrary, the minute counter is often augmented and provides an opportunity for unique design execution. That’s what led to people calling them “big-eye” chronographs. And in our vintage column, we have covered quite a few yachting chronographs already. Don’t forget to check out the Seaboard Yacht, Seiko 7A28-7090, Gallet Yachting, Airin Regatta Timer, or Tissot Navigator Yachting.

Seven generations

If we follow Henrik’s research and use his categorization, we can identify seven generations of the Yema Yachtingraf. The first generation with the Valjoux 92 movement debuted in 1966, and shortly after came the second execution with the Valjoux 7733 or 7734. The third generation got a Valjoux 7734 caliber with a date complication. All three generations had small seconds at 9 o’clock and an oversized 30-minute counter at the “standard” 3 o’clock position.

Things changed a bit in 1969 when the first Valjoux 72-powered Yachtingraf came out. The so-called “Yachtingraf Croisère” with the iconic Yema-only red cross inside the 12-hour counter and white sub-seconds register is rare. The fifth generation went back to a black sub-seconds register and was powered by the Valjoux 7736. The last two generations had a big rotating disk underneath the dial that showed the countdown in numbers.

The second generation under the loupe

Beginner’s luck — that’s what we can call my find. Before I purchased this Yachtingraf about five years ago, I had not done proper research. I had no idea there were seven versions. I knew the Yachtingraf varied, but I’d never studied the differences between individual cases or bezels. What I managed to score is a pretty rare execution with straight lugs. For the record, I’m a big fan of lugs like this, whether on the Seiko 62MAS or the only Omega Speedmaster I need, the so-called “Ed White.” According to Henrik, before 2017, there were only three examples of this second-generation Yachtingraf known. Well, it’s 2025 now, but I do not expect another dozen to resurface.

Details I like

Not only are the lugs straight, but they’re also drilled, so changing the spring bars and strap is easy. Some hate drilled lugs as they “ruin” the aesthetic, but they have never bothered me. And they most certainly don’t bother me on this watch, which seems to have a set of original spring bars. If the spring bars are not short and fit nicely to the edges of the lug, it’s quite an interesting aesthetic, I think.

The Yema Yachtingraf bezel

I don’t know how many times I’ve urged you to buy a watch with a Bakelite bezel, but applying the rule of thumb here, I must have done so in about 5–10 articles since I joined the Fratello editorial team in 2019. If we talk aesthetics, a simple metal bezel, no matter if it’s a bidirectional friction-fit one or a unidirectional clicking type, is incomparable to a Bakelite one. That depth and plasticity are so pleasing that it feels like a different watch. This observation would not have been relevant 60 years ago, but it may come in handy since we now sport watches like this more often in the office rather than among the waves. My Bakelite bezel is considerably thinner and looks much more elegant. Not despite but because of the yachting sub-register, this Yema Yachtingraf is a real under-the-cuff deal.

The best part

Now comes the interesting part — digging into the six colored triangles in the yachting timer, where each is divided into five-minute slots, two of which are numbered. Why the hell are there two independent five-minute countdowns in one timer? I admit it’s a bit confusing. And that’s the moment when we go and search for a patent application. There were two relevant applications — the Swiss one from June 1966 and the American one from March 1967, both signed “H. L. Blum.”

An illustration from the American patent application

How it works

It seems there is not one countdown but two of them. Quoting the patent application, “The use of either zones 11 and 12 can be effected equally by virtue of the two-headed or two-ended hand 13. The two heads 14 and 15, which have a different shape, refer respectively to zones 11 and 12. The marking of dial 9 is such that it provides for count-down means 16 and 17, respectively, from the sixth to the tenth minute on the side of the crown and from the eleventh to the fifteenth minute on the opposite side, representing, in the two cases, the last five minutes before departure.”

Image: RC, aka Jerry (Le Club Yema)

Simply put, the right half shows the timing for the regatta event with 10 minutes of start prep, while the left is for 15 minutes of race preparation. In the first case, you focus on the eye of the small hand, while in the second case, you focus on its needle-like point. That brings us to another mystery: what’s the correct orientation when setting up this hand? Should it be with the eye on top or at the bottom? Both are right. The owner could decide which option he preferred, and he could adjust it according to his preference. Henrik doesn’t pay much attention to the sub-dial’s functionality, but here is a nice, funny bit of reading on the topic. According to that source, a 10-minute countdown with an “eye up” position was designed for international regatta rules, while a 15-minute countdown with an “eye down” position was for US races.

To make things more complicated

There are more gunshots fired during the countdown to the start of a race. Reading the patent document further provides another surprising insight into the watch’s utility. To use the watch properly, contestants should start the chronograph upon hearing the first gunshot. Inevitably, there always is a time lag until racers react, especially when I imagine all the conditions on board. But there is also a second gunshot five minutes after the first, signaling the last five minutes before departure. This is when the bezel comes into play. It can be rotated and aligned with the central chrono hand in position at the moment of the second shot. This way, the bezel triangle indicates the actual zero for the last five minutes of the countdown. Epic!

Don’t you have a Bakelite-bezel big-eye regatta timer? If not, now is the time to start looking for your Yema Yachtingraf!