This Ultra-Thin Retro Dive Watch Gets a Gorgeous Material Makeover

Bronze has been a preferred metal for nautical equipment since, well, the Bronze Age.

Those deep roots within the life aquatic make the golden-toned alloy a popular choice for dive watches. While it tends to make existing designs look more rugged and old-fashioned (in a good way), Yema’s latest bronze release skews in the opposite direction.

Photo by Brad Lanphear for Gear Patrol

The Yema Skin Diver Slim Bronze plays up the metal’s warm luster by presenting it in an ultra-thin diver case, making it feel more dressy and sleek. Paired with Yema’s delightful 1960s roullette-style dial, it feels more like a relic from the Space Age than the Age of Sail.

Based on Yema’s Superman Skin Diver design, first introduced in 1962, the dial features large applied trapezoidal indices with broader markers at the cardinal hours, filled in with squared-off fitted numerals.

Photo by Brad Lanphear for Gear Patrol

The fence post hour hand and large arrow minute hand match the original design, while the seconds hand has been updated with a lollipop tip. The bezel frame is bronze with a coin edge, and it holds a dial-matched sapphire insert marked with a fully graduated 60-minute dive track.

The indices and hands are gilded to match the bronze case, crown and bezel, and are all filled in with green-glowing Super-LumiNova. The bezel is topped off with a matching lume pip.

Yema’s patented bezel lock is not included, nor is there a date complication, creating a clean and balanced appearance. It is the type of diver that can easily be dressed up with a black leather strap and fit right in with formal attire.

Yema

At launch, the Skin Diver Slim Bronze is available in a rich forest green that pairs beautifully with the golden bronze. I had it on my wrist for two weeks, and it complemented my predominantly black, navy and gray wardrobe wonderfully.

Yema also offers the ancient alloy diver in a limited-edition gray color, with only 200 pieces available.

In name alone

When I first received the Skin Diver Slim Bronze from Yema, it struck me that, despite its name, the watch boasts a 300m water-resistance rating. But the name was clearly chosen to highlight its resemblance to the French watchmaker’s 1960s Skin Diver design, rather than a comparatively low level of water resistance like traditional skin divers.

Photo by Brad Lanphear for Gear Patrol

Along with the appearance, it very much feels like a classic skin diver on the wrist. The 39mm case measures just 47mm lug-to-lug and feels remarkably light.

The impressive water resistance is made possible by the strength of the bronze, a screw-down crown and a 2.2mm thick double-domed sapphire crystal, which is not included in the aforementioned case thickness measurement.

Photo by Brad Lanphear for Gear Patrol

Another small but impactful detail is that the gently curved lugs, which slightly hug the wrist, are drilled. This makes swapping out straps remarkably easy.

The provided two-piece rubber strap with a bronze pin buckle is comfortable, but I don’t love the texture. Personally, I would wear it on a black nylon NATO strap or leather strap for daily wear.

It’s not the size of the rotor…

For Yema fans, the most notable detail about the Skin Diver Slim Bronze is that it is the first bronze watch offered by the brand powered by its in-house caliber CMM.20 automatic movement.

Photo by Brad Lanphear for Gear Patrol

The micro-rotor design, produced by the brand’s Montreu manufacture, beats at 4Hz, packs a 70-hour power reserve and has a measured accuracy of -3 /+7 seconds per day. It is visible through a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback.

Availability and price

Yema’s new Skin Diver is one of the few examples I’ve come across of bronze making a watch look more elevated, rather than more rugged. Omega’s Seamaster Diver 300m, released in early 2025, is the only other example that comes to mind, but that’s actually Bronze Gold, an Omega-only alloy that combines bronze with real gold.

The Yema Skin Dive Slim Bronze CMM.20 is available now from Yema for $2,490. The green reference joins the brand’s regular production catalog, while the gray is a limited edition of 200 pieces.

Yema generously covers import duties for American shoppers and provides free shipping, meaning the final price is as advertised.

Yema

Yema Skin Diver Slim Bronze

Specs

Case Size	39mm
Movement	Yema caliber CMM.20 automatic
Water Resistance	300m

• $2,490 at Yema

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