Yema Granvelle CMM.20 Watch Review

Opening the box containing Yema’s new Granvelle CMM.20, the first thing I want to say is you need to forget everything you already know about the French Maison. You cannot compare this watch to the Superman or Wristmaster because it is a brand-new design in every conceivable way. One of the most daring changes in aesthetic direction I can think of since, well… I can’t even think of a change as dramatic as this.

To qualify that statement, Yema traditionally sits in the sports watch genre of design ranging from 1960s skin diver tool watches to 1980s integrated bracelet designs. With the Granvelle CMM.20 they’re jumping to a 1930s-ish cushion case watch with Art Deco influences based on architecture in Besançon. Moving from one to the other is liable to give you more whiplash than J.K. Simmons in 2014. Hence, put the divers and tool watches out of your mind and let’s dig into the new watch.

The case measures 39mm in diameter with a thickness of 8.6mm in a rounded cushion shape. Like all cushion or square cases it wears a bit larger than circular watches of the same size because of the wider profile across its length. In pictures the lugs exaggerate that length as well, though on the wrist they feel a lot less prominent. One of the coolest details of the case is actually the caseband around the edge, which has vertical engraved lines that add a fun texture to run your finger across.

As for the dial, it’s really distinctive with an asymmetrical guilloché, cushion-shaped disc in the centre inspired by the arches of the Palais Granvelle in Besançon, which is where the city’s Museum of Horology is based. Completing the display is an off-centre small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock and a three-dimensional hour track around the periphery. And I do mean three-dimensional because it’s raised like the banked seating of a stadium and the hour markers are actually cut into it to reveal a metallic shine. Super unique. A slightly weird, modern interpretation of a sector dial display. Sector dials are an Art Deco classic, as is the railway minute track that runs along the inner edge of that raised portion.

For colour, the Yema Granvelle CMM.20 has three options: black, blue and green. The version I have here is the black, but with the high shine of the sunray brushing across the ridges of the guilloché, it almost appears to be more of an anthracite, dark grey. I can imagine that the light playing across the blue or green would make those colours pop vividly.

In the interest of balance, I do have to talk about the strap. I’ve seen a lot of straps and clasp designs and most of them are perfectly serviceable, if a little fiddly on occasion. This is one of the few I’ve come across that I would replace immediately. It’s a friction popper deployant clasp on a leather strap where you simply have to pull at it until it releases, which feels abusive to the leather. There’s also no good way to grip it in order to undo it in a smooth motion. I keep accidentally undoing the buckle, at which point you may as well treat it as an ordinary pin buckle. It is at least comfortable once you have it on.

As the Micro-Rotor inscription on the dial indicates, the movement inside is indeed a micro-rotor automatic. Specifically, Yema’s in-house CMM.20 flagship movement from their Morteau workshop. It is finished beautifully with a radial Côte de Genève emanating from the micro-rotor like an artist’s depiction of a halo. It has great specs to boot with a 70-hour power reserve and -3/+7 seconds per day accuracy.

Once you get over that initial whiplash, I actually think this is really fun watch. It’s a bit quirky, a bit unusual, but really well built and it houses a powerhouse movement. Plus, it delivers on that Art Deco style while not being a parody or homage, bringing a new energy to that design space. It also doesn’t cost the Earth at $1,990 (approx. £1,500).

More details at Yema.

​Oracle Time 

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