Yema
Yatchingraf B Zone First Generation - Patent pending

“In a regatta, the opening minutes of the race are prepared before the start has even been given. Read the wind, find your position, preserve your speed and reach the right place at the right moment. Some watches were conceived for precisely this meeting between movement and time.”

Yema Yachtingraf reference 9312, a 1966 example, first-generation regatta chronograph, round steel case measuring approximately 38 mm excluding the crown, black rotating bezel graduated over sixty units, domed acrylic crystal, black dial with two asymmetrical registers, continuous small seconds at nine o’clock and an oversized thirty-minute totaliser at three, blue and red nautical sectors against a pale background, fifteen-minute Zone B reading with the double-ended register hand fitted in the head-down configuration, central hour and minute hands, central chronograph seconds and no calendar. Swiss manually wound Valjoux 92 movement, column-wheel chronograph control, oscillating-pinion coupling, frequency of 18,000 vibrations per hour, or 2.5 Hz, 17 jewels, and a theoretical power reserve of approximately 39 hours after full winding. A collector’s watch offered with support from our watchmaking workshop in Aix-en-Provence and the Mostra 3-year warranty.

Imagine several sailing boats drawing closer, a sail being trimmed, a course being corrected and a starting line nobody wishes to reach at the wrong moment. Unlike a racing car stationary on a grid, a sailing boat remains in motion during the wait. It advances, slows, changes angle and searches for the position that will allow it to cross the line at speed. The watch must then provide more than an elapsed interval: it must make immediately understandable how much preparation time remains. This is the setting in which the Yema Yachtingraf finds its purpose. Its oversized coloured register attracts the collector’s eye today; originally, its task was above all to prevent a sailor from wasting time interpreting a watch. This 1966 reference 9312, powered by a Valjoux 92 and presented in its Zone B reading configuration, preserves the full strength of that idea: traditional mechanics serving a display designed for a very particular situation.

The Yachtingraf appeared at a time when Yema, the French watchmaking house founded in 1948, was asserting its interest in technical watches. Its history is rooted in a patent application claiming French priority from 30 June 1966, devoted to a chronograph whose indications could track the preparations for a regatta start. Its originality did not depend on a movement running backwards, but on the arrangement of the dial, the use of a double-ended hand and the complementary role of a rotating bezel. The Valjoux 92 version belongs to the first generation of this family, preceding variants using movements such as the Valjoux 7730 and subsequent Yachtingraf developments. It came before the three-register Croisière models and the interpretations with countdown discs. This position within the genealogy gives it its appeal: it returns us to the original principle, when the model’s identity was being established around two registers and an immediately recognisable nautical display.

That identity is revealed through the dial’s asymmetry. On the left, the small seconds retain discreet proportions; on the right, the regatta register deliberately occupies more space. The design establishes a hierarchy between the indication that simply confirms the watch is running and the one that must be read quickly during a manoeuvre. Colour introduces an additional visual language, while the black surface gives the hands and markers the necessary definition. Around them, the bezel frames the composition without drawing attention away from the principal register. The domed acrylic crystal brings the gentle treatment of reflections associated with chronographs of this period. On the wrist, the dimensions remain restrained, yet the watch possesses a highly individual presence: the coloured register is recognised first, followed by the discovery of how every detail contributes to its function. The Yachtingraf does not need an oversized diameter to express its character.

To understand its operation, the first distinction is between the indications that run continuously and those deliberately activated by the wearer. The central hour and minute hands display the current time. The small seconds at nine o’clock complete one revolution per minute and continue running when the chronograph is stopped. The long central chronograph hand remains at rest until timing begins; once activated, it travels around the dial in sixty seconds. It works with the totaliser at three o’clock, whose hand completes one full revolution in thirty minutes. This is essential: even when the fifteen-minute starting sequence is being followed, the mechanism remains a thirty-minute counter. The countdown comes from the arrangement of its scales and the way they are read. The hands continue to rotate in their usual direction.

The expression “head-down” refers here to the resting position of the register hand’s circular end, directed towards the bottom of that small dial, at its six o’clock position. It therefore describes neither the watch’s hour hand nor an indication positioned at six o’clock on the main dial. In this configuration, the most immediately recognisable end of the hand is placed to travel through the left half of the register, dedicated to the Zone B reading. It begins at the bottom, progresses clockwise through the left side and reaches the top after fifteen minutes, completing half a revolution. This orientation has a precise functional logic: it favours the reading of a starting preparation divided into three five-minute periods. A circular hand end resting at the bottom should therefore not be judged incorrectly fitted on that evidence alone. The reading made more apparent by its orientation must first be understood.

Now imagine a start preceded by fifteen minutes of preparation, following the principle envisaged for Zone B. At the first signal, the sailor presses the upper pusher: the central chronograph seconds begin to run and the register starts accumulating minutes. The circular end leaves its lower position. After five minutes, it reaches approximately eight o’clock within the small register: ten minutes remain before the start. After ten minutes, it arrives around ten o’clock and enters the final five-minute sector. After fifteen minutes, it reaches the top of the register: the preparation period has elapsed. These positions refer to the small regatta dial, not to the time shown by the watch. Once understood, the movement is straightforward to follow: the sailor watches a hand rise towards its deadline, while the sectors identify the current phase of the sequence.

The final sector receives particular attention. In the upper-left section, the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 scale makes the approaching start immediately understandable. The register no longer asks only for recognition of a colour: it allows the final remaining minutes to be read. Then, as the deadline approaches, attention shifts to the central chronograph seconds hand. The two indications become complementary: one identifies the countdown phase, while the other tracks the fraction of the current minute. With an exactly synchronised start, fourteen minutes and forty seconds elapsed mean twenty seconds remain before a start scheduled at fifteen minutes. This distinction must be preserved: the long central hand indicates elapsed seconds, not decreasing seconds. At the deadline, the watch neither sounds an alarm nor stops automatically; it continues timing. The start belongs to the race signals, while the Yachtingraf helps the sailor prepare for it.

The other half of the register explains the presence of the hand’s two opposing ends. The right-hand section corresponds to the Zone A reading, organised around two five-minute periods. With the head-down arrangement, the opposite slender end initially points upwards and can serve as the reference for this reading. The same mechanism therefore provides access to two timing sequences without turning the dial around or modifying the movement. The wearer simply chooses, before starting, which side and which end to follow. This is the ingenuity of the arrangement: using a conventional totaliser to accommodate several preparation sequences. The Zone B designation primarily describes this reading configuration; it does not, by itself, prove a particular commercial destination or geographical provenance. The ten- and fifteen-minute periods belong to the protocols envisaged when the model was conceived and should not be presented as universal rules applying to every regatta.

The rotating bezel adds a final subtlety, often overlooked when the Yachtingraf is appreciated solely as an attractive vintage chronograph. The patent envisages its use to establish a seconds reference against an official signal. A slightly delayed start does not necessarily require the entire measurement to be interrupted: at the next signal, the sailor can align the bezel marker with the position of the central chronograph hand. This provides a visual reference corresponding to that instant, independent of the usual zero at the top of the dial. The exact scope of the gesture matters: the reading reference is moved; the movement is not reset, nor is the minute counter mechanically corrected. This feature illustrates the closeness between the object and its intended use. The designer anticipated a sailor occupied with something else when the signal sounded, then provided a means of recovering a reference without making the chronograph more complicated.

Beneath the dial, the Valjoux 92 gives this first Yachtingraf a mechanical personality distinct from subsequent versions. It is manually wound, its chronograph is controlled by a column wheel, and transmission to the chronograph uses an oscillating pinion. The column wheel coordinates the positions of the control components as timing starts and stops; it belongs to an architecture appreciated by vintage chronograph enthusiasts for both its logic and its execution. The movement contains 17 jewels, runs at 18,000 vibrations per hour, or 2.5 Hz, and gives the seconds hand a progression of five impulses per second. Its theoretical reserve of approximately 39 hours after full winding invites daily winding when the watch is worn regularly. On an example of this age, actual autonomy naturally depends on the condition of the mainspring, gear train and servicing: a catalogue figure never replaces measurement at the workbench.

The controls retain the simplicity of a two-pusher chronograph. The upper pusher, around two o’clock, starts timing, stops it and allows it to resume so that successive periods can be added together. The lower pusher, around four o’clock, returns the chronograph indications to their initial positions once timing has stopped. This watch has no flyback function: stopping, resetting and restarting must therefore remain distinct operations. In the Zone B configuration, the return of the circular end to the bottom is part of the register’s expected behaviour. The crown winds the movement and sets the time, with no calendar to correct. These gestures still give the watch a practical place in everyday life. A period of work, a wait or an activity can become an opportunity to operate the chronograph and rediscover the pleasure of an instrument whose indications are understood.

The appeal of this example thus lies in the combination of several elements: the year 1966, the first generation with Valjoux 92, the asymmetrical nautical dial and the head-down configuration favouring Zone B. There is no need to attribute a famous owner or numbered production run to appreciate what it represents. Its design already carries sufficient history. Within a collection, this Yachtingraf offers a different reading from that of an automotive or aviation chronograph: here, time serves to prepare movement, choose an instant and anticipate rather than merely record. Its preservation calls in return for attention appropriate to its age. The dial, double-ended hand, bezel and case proportions should be considered together. Its historical maritime purpose does not constitute a guarantee of present-day water resistance; dry wear remains the prudent approach to preserving such a vintage watch.

At Mostra, a first-generation Yachtingraf deserves both a watchmaker’s examination and an understanding of its use. Our Aix-en-Provence workshop examines the watch’s coherence, timekeeping, chronograph activation, register drive and the return of the hands to their resting positions. Preparation and servicing are adapted to its mechanical requirements, with particular attention to preserving the elements that define its identity. Our 3-year warranty extends this support. It is also our role to explain why a hand can return head-down without indicating a fault, or how fifteen minutes can be read from a counter that records thirty. Once these details are understood, the watch’s appearance changes slightly. It is no longer simply red and blue against a black dial: it evokes a starting line, a sailing boat gathering speed and a navigator who knows exactly how much time remains.