14 reviews on Yema Superman

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4

96

Proust's Madeleine

4.5

This Yema Superman represents my first true horological thrill. Of course, before it, there was this Casio brought back from Thailand by my uncle, which seemed so exotic compared to what was available in France some forty years earlier. But my first true horological desire, the one that left its mark on my imagination, was born when I saw this Yema Superman on my father's wrist in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It embodied everything I would later love about watchmaking: tool watches, especially diving watches, both sporty and elegant, robust yet subtle, exuding a masculine charm and a certain rarity. One day, while rummaging in a drawer, I came across it. There, stopped for nearly thirty years, it seemed frozen in time. A single thought obsessed me: to get it running again. And after a simple battery change and a water-resistance check, miracle! It started running again as if it had stopped the day before. It's been a few days now, and it's proving very accurate. The Shiojiri V342A movement seems quite high-quality. Admittedly, time has taken its toll: slight oxidation on the hands, a third of the Mercedes hand has vanished... But the dial itself remains intact. Only one detail betrays its age: no trace of Super-Luminova. No matter how long it's exposed to sunlight, at night, it's pitch black. Despite this, or because of it, this watch is magnificent! Its 19 mm lug width, its traditional external strap attachments, its slim and elegant 39 mm case, and its deep black dial with large indexes (big dial) – one of two designs available at the time – make this Superman II, from the Seiko era at Yema (model Y90056), a true icon. It also became the first vintage watch in my collection. I fitted it with a black tropic strap, and this combination seems absolutely perfect to me. There are two versions of this watch: a quartz and an automatic. Obviously, I would have preferred to find an automatic in this drawer. But, truth be told, it doesn't matter. The emotion it gives me far surpasses this technical detail. This small timepiece, difficult to find in such pristine condition, I wear it as proudly as a Rolex. In short, my horological Madeleine de Proust.

6 days ago

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2

543

Superman 241117 Air Force

4.5

You will probably throw stones and anvils at me but yes I do use this magnificent vintage to go diving, not with tanks since I have the misfortune of having asthma but in freediving often on leather straps, in short everything you should not do when you listen to all these people on youtube who tell you what to do without ever having dived themselves. Obviously, I do my waterproofness tests and services so that everything goes as well as possible but to date no problem and if there was a problem, finding parts is not a problem on this kind of watch. This 241117 from 1973 is older than me and it is my ultimate grail. I only wear it since I got my hands on it last year when I already had 3 other yema superman 241117 and a 530016... In short, you get the idea, I'm a bit of a vintage yema superman nutcase. The only time I don't wear this 241117 is when I use the impact drill or a hammer (and that's just because I'm left-handed). Being a big fan of the 241117 for several years, my holy grail was to find a yema superman air force, not a reissue but the real vintage one, in short, the thing that is absolutely impossible to find. To my knowledge, there had never been one on public sale, so I wrote a computer program that ran to make sure that if one day there was one somewhere I would be the first on the neck. Very frankly I thought that this impossible quest would last 20 years but by extreme luck I had a touch in only 2 years. Since then I have developed a serious OCD that makes me go every day to see if yema are on sale even if I absolutely no longer buy anything because for each purchase I ask myself: what is better than my 241117? And nothing, so I no longer buy anything, it is ultimately very good for the wallet. When I saw this superman, I realized the gap between wanting to acquire a grail and the acquisition process. Given the excitement that should not be made to appear to the seller, it was necessary to trace and prove its authenticity. The seller said he had taken possession of this watch during an inheritance but some details made me doubt, in short it was necessary to appraise this superman in person to understand the ins and outs. After making sure that I could charge back to my credit card in case of a scam, I buy it. When I receive it, the first reflex is to examine the watch from all angles, everything is clean from the point of view of the parts, the glass has lived and the bezel lock is missing but these two elements are easy to find, obviously it is not a frankenwatch but remains to see the mechanics. The back has many traces of failed opening, clearly someone tried to open it and broke their teeth. Indeed opening the case was not easy, I quickly understand how so many traces are visible, I spend several hours on it but the back does not move an inch, only solution that works, glue a nut on the back of the case and go for it, and tada the movement finally appears: an eta 2452 which fits with its age since yema will move on to france ebauche in the following years. The bottom of the box bears a watchmaker's inscription dating from 1976, in short, incredible, everything matches its year of commissioning and I am very happy with this incredible find. A little message in a bottle, if anyone has one of these magnificent original Superman watches, I would be curious to be able to talk to them about the watchmakers who performed the services on these watches since, to my knowledge, there is no register on which we can go and see this kind of detail.

a year ago

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