Yema is a French watchmaking company that was founded and based in Besançon, France. History 1948 - Founding and Henry Louis Belmont Henry Louis Belmont, a student of the National Watchmaking School of Besançon and major of his promotion in 1931, created 1948 his own watchmaking company under the name Yema. 1963 - Yema Superman collection In 1963, the company launched their very first Yema Superman for divers. Many variations were produced by the company for this model of watch. 1966 - Yema Yachtingraf collection and Yema RallyGraf collection In 1966, the first Yema Yachtingraf was launched, a watch especially designed for sailors. At the same time, the first Yema RallyGraf was launched. One Yema RallyGraf was even worn by Formula One Champion Mario Andretti. At the start of 1970, Yema became an official supplier of the French Sailing Federation (Fédération Française de Yachting à Voile) and equipped the French National team who participated in the 1972 Olympic Games. Six different versions of Yema Yachtingraf model were crafted over the years. 1982 - First French Watch in Space On 24 June 1982, for the first time, a French astronaut, Jean-Loup Chrétien, flew from the Baikonour base for a 10-day trip into space, wearing a Yema Spationaute I. On 17 June 1985, the Discovery shuttle took off with Patrick Baudry and his Yema Spationaute II on mission STS-51G (First Franco-American Orbital Flight). On 26 November 1988, Jean Loup Chrétien went on a mission to MIR Space Station wearing a Yema Spationaute III. 1986 - North Pole Mission In May 1986, Yema joined forces with French physician and explorer Jean-Louis Etienne to cross the North Pole. 1988 - Yema gets acquired by Seiko In 1988, Yema was bought by Seiko Watch Corporation of Japan. 2004 - Yema gets acquired again Later in 2004, Louis Eric Beckensteiner bought Yema. 2009 - Innovative watch movement and Yema gets acquired yet again Yema designed a new proprietary watch movement: the MBP 1000. Equipped with a bidirectional oscillating mass mounted on ball bearings, they allowed a fast reassembly and a power reserve of 40 hours. This resulted in a gain of efficiency but also precision, provided by a regulator whose balance beats at a frequency of 28,800 alternations per hour. Stacking a total of 31 rubies including 2 located at the ends of the axis of the barrel, this technical design effectively reduced the friction generally