One of my personal favourite dive watches of 2024 was the Yema Skin Diver Slim CMM.20 limited edition, which balanced really solid specifications with a cool retro vibe. Now that model is making a return but this time in bronze. There’s a 200 piece limited edition version that pays direct homage to the 2024 steel limited edition as well as a second, non-limited version.
Bronze and dive watches are a material and wristwatch combination that go hand in hand like cheese and wine (trying to think of a particularly French pairing for Yema). Bronze is a highly corrosion resistant metal which makes it ideal for maritime use because it is unaffected by prolonged exposure to salt water. It also has its iconic patina that it develops over time, giving it a unique look that tells the individual story of each watch. Admittedly it’s an often debated point among collectors whether that’s a cool, characterful quality or if it just makes a watch look dirty.
For the Skin Diver Slim Bronze CMM.20, the bronze case with alternating brushed and polished surfaces measures 39mm x 10mm. That makes it positively petite in the grand scheme of dive watches, which are generally on the chunkier side of things, hence the moniker ‘Slim’ in its name. Despite being on the smaller side of the archetype, it still retains 300m water resistance, making it a professional diver. Something backed up by its practical diving bezel with uni-directional rotation and 60-minute scale.
The bezel is also where you can see one of the differences between the limited edition and non-limited edition. The most obvious difference is that the limited model is grey like the 2024 version while the other model is green. However, the difference on the bezel is more subtle: the limited version has a ‘faded ghost’ design where the scale has a faux aged look as if the sun has leeched all the colour out of it while the standard model has a bright white one. Both bezels have lumed dots at 12 and feature sapphire inserts to make them nice and scratch resistant.
As for the dials, the Skin Diver Slim Bronze CMM.20 is practically identical to the steel model. Both the grey and green versions feature matte, monochrome bases with wedge shaped applied indexes coated with vintage-inspired lime lume and Art Deco adjacent typography. The central hands feature distinct shapes to make it easy to read at a glance, an arrow for the minutes, pencil for the hours and lollipop seconds.
Below the dial, and visible through the exhibition caseback if you turn the watch over, is the Yema CMM.20 micro-rotor automatic movement. It’s a manufacture movement produced in their Morteau workshop near the Swiss border. It’s quite the little powerhouse of a calibre with its slim 3.7mm construction allowing for the slim proportions of the case while still featuring a 70-hour power reserve and -3/+7 seconds per day accuracy. Its finishing is relatively sober with monochrome black plates and the main focus being the micro-rotor.
For pricing, the Skin Diver Slim Bronze CMM.20 (in both 200 piece limited edition and non-limited) is £2,040 on rubber FKM Viton strap. The strap features a scale pattern that recalls the steel bracelet of the 2024 limited edition without having to produce an entire new bracelet in bronze. A solid follow up to the previous version and I still really like it.
Price and Specs:
More details at Yema.
