Yema have had a long and celebrated history with the French Air force. It all began back in the 1970s when the first Yuma Superman models were won by a group of military rescue divers. Paying homage to this long and colorful history, Yuma and the French Air force collaborated and designed the 2020 rendition of the Super man series, the Armée de l’Air limited editions.
These modern-day limited-edition watches will be presented in four automatic variants and will be available in two sizes (39mm and 41mm). These watches come in either stainless steel or PVD coated black stainless-steel (my favorite of the two) options.
A Modern Watch with Lots of History
The Armée de l’Air series are modern-day professional pilot’s watches. They all feature matte surfaces and come with a lockable unidirectional steel bezel, a black dial, and black PVD-coated hands. Additionally, at the 3 o’clock position, the watch features a beveled-framed date aperture. Each of the four versions of thee watch will be limited to only 1948 pieces, as this number symbolizes the year Yema was founded.
Acknowledging the history shared with the French Air Force, the Armée de l’Air series has two French National insignias (one in place of the 6 o’clock index, and the other stamped on the crown). Additionally, we see “Armée de l’Air” in red, stamped on the dial along with the Air Force emblem engraved on the screwed caseback.
Technical Details, and Salute to Those Who Have Served
The movement featured in the Armée de l’Air series is a French-made Automatic caliber and runs at 4Hz. The watch features a 45-hour power reserve and has Geneva stripes that drive the hours, minutes, central seconds and date functions. The Superman Air Force Black variant additionally comes with a scratch resistant sapphire crystal and construction sturdy enough to be water resistant up to 300 meters.
The crown features distinct crown guards and is of the screwable type. Honoring those who served in the French Air Force military, Yema pledges to donate up to 12.5% of the sales to the official French Veterans Foundation. The stainless-steel variant will be available for $999, and the black PVD plated stainless-steel variant will be available for $1,199.