Heraldry and Horology

#yema #wristmaster #vintage #colareb
Catskinner

I was reading the "Time of Heroes", which is a book published by Yema that recount the history of the brand and showcase some of it's lesser known models.

Image

Despite its title the book was only published in French. There was originally an English version planned with the release of the Wristmaster but it got cancelled due to COVID or whatever. It's not an issue for me as French is my mother's tongue, but it's nevertheless a pity that it will never reach a larger audience.

Image

Yema has a fascinating history and at some point it was probably the largest watch manufacturer in France. Some of its models, such as the Odyssée and the North Pole are even now without a match as polar expedition watches.

Image

But what caught my attention were several photos of the original Wristmaster, where the back is shown to have a roundel and engraved inside is the heraldic logo of Yema. This engraving is also present on other modern models from Yema and at first I just dismissed it as another pretentious trick to ennoble a piece of wrist accessory and make it more desirable for those with more money than common sense or taste (see crowns, coronets, shields, roses etcetera).

But it turn out that it's a logo that Yema has been using for decades and I must admit that its nicely engraved on the case back. It's just a pity that the back of the watches is something to which I seldom pay attention.

Image

On the wrist the Yema Wristmaster has a strong vintage vibe, and the reason I bought the cream dial version is simply because I think that the details of the dial simply looks better in this version. It originally came with a brown leather strap that (as usual for Yema) was rather meh, but the ColaReb Spoleto strap fixed this rather nicely.

PS

The "Time of Heroes" book is worth a look even for those who can't read French. There are plenty of photos and references to interesting models, copies of hand drawn diagrams and blue prints and a lot of reproductions of advertisements from the period when watches were important both for professionals and for social status aspirants.