Shooting For The Moon With The Yema Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Limited Edition
Yema is best known for tool watches inspired by its 1960s and ’70s designs, particularly the Superman and Navygraf. In recent years, however, the French brand has broadened its lineup with the integrated-bracelet Wristmaster and the retro-inspired Granvelle dress watch. Now, the Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Limited Edition introduces another direction — a contemporary dress watch with an in-house micro-rotor caliber and a moonphase display. It also launches an entirely new collection, giving Yema another platform for its growing movement-making ambitions.
Yema has invested heavily in developing in-house calibers at its manufacture in Morteau, France. The CMM.10 and CMM.20 families power several models, while the CMM.30 tourbillon movement debuted in 2023 for the brand’s 75th anniversary in the Yachtingraf Tourbillon Mareographe. Yema followed it with the Superman Tourbillon in 2025 and the Spacegraf Heure Sidérale Tourbillon Volant Limited Edition last month. The latter pairs a flying tourbillon with a rotating celestial disc that tracks sidereal time. These releases demonstrate how far the brand intends to push its technical capabilities.
The story of the Yema Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Limited Edition
The Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 is Yema’s first moonphase watch. To create it, the brand adapted its CMM.20 micro-rotor platform with a display featuring an oversized luminous moon. The result is both a new complication for Yema and the first model in a new collection.
The Senans design takes its name and inspiration from the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, an 18th-century architectural landmark in eastern France, not far from Yema’s Morteau workshops. Despite that historical reference, the watch feels contemporary. Its stepped case has a modern profile, while alternating brushed and polished surfaces emphasize its layered construction.
The details of the Yema Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Limited Edition
The stainless steel case has a 38.5mm diameter, 8.7mm thickness, and 46.4mm lug-to-lug length. It offers a 50m water resistance rating and takes a 20mm strap. Beneath the double-domed sapphire crystal sits a black dial divided into two sections.
The center features circular barleycorn guilloché inspired by the Fibonacci sequence and the geometry found in sunflowers and pine cones. Its repeating grain-shaped motif forms intersecting spirals, adding depth to the dial. Applied indexes filled with cream-colored lume sit on the outer ring, while a white minute track runs along the rehaut.
Yema also offers blue and champagne dial options. Of the three, the black version creates the strongest contrast with the oversized moonphase display at 7 o’clock, which naturally draws the eye.
The display features a subtly domed moon and a disc that moves across it to indicate the lunar phase. Yema makes the moon from a solid block of Grade X Super-LumiNova using Globolight technology, so it glows brightly alongside the hands and indexes in low light. The dial also carries the brand’s logo and a curved plaque reading “Manufacture Française,” a nod to its French roots.
Yema’s new Calibre Manufacture Morteau 22
The CMM.22 is based on the CMM.20 micro-rotor movement. The challenge for Yema’s watchmakers was to accommodate the oversized moonphase mechanism without compromising the movement’s slim profile. Its larger components add mass and inertia compared with those of a conventional moonphase display.
Yema addressed this by refining the components, gearing, and power transmission. The additional mechanism increases the caliber’s thickness by just 0.83mm, bringing the CMM.22 to 4.7mm overall. Pulling out the non-screw-down crown to the first position allows you to adjust the moonphase, with the disc moving in either direction as you turn. The second position is for setting the time.
The CMM.22 runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and delivers a 70-hour power reserve. Yema specifies an accuracy of -3/+7 seconds per day. Like the brand’s other in-house movements, the CMM.22 has a charcoal-gray finish. An Anthradec electroplated surface treatment gives its components a distinctive dark appearance.
Wearing the Yema Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Limited Edition
Yema pairs the watch with a light gray textured leather strap and branded buckle, but a tapered mesh bracelet is also available. I prefer the leather option, which reinforces the watch’s dressier character. At 8.7mm thick, the case itself is slim, and the domed crystal doesn’t add much visual or physical bulk. The Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 slides easily under a cuff and feels well proportioned on the wrist.
I’m not usually drawn to moonphase watches because the complication offers little practical function for me. This one, however, won me over. The oversized display gives the otherwise restrained dial a focal point, and its simple adjustment makes it enjoyable to operate. More impressive still, the luminous moon shines brightly in the dark. This detail is easy to miss during the day but gives the Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 a lovely character at night.
Final thoughts on the Yema Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Limited Edition
I enjoyed wearing the Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 for a few days. A moonphase watch would not normally be my first choice, but this display has real charm. It is fun to adjust, striking in the dark, and a good fit for the new collection’s blend of historical inspiration and contemporary design. Yema has established a clear direction for the Senans lineup, and I’m curious to see where it goes next.
Launching a collection with a moonphase model is unusual, but I like the decision. Yema will produce 200 examples in each dial color, priced at €2,470 on the leather strap and €2,570 on the mesh bracelet. Each of the three versions has a distinct appeal, so choosing between them may be the hardest part. If this first release is any indication, the Senans collection has room to grow.
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