YEMA Superman 500 Dato Review

YEMA is a French watch manufacture founded in 1948 that has had a long and storied history in producing professional grade timepieces for divers, the military and motorsports. With our previous review of the YEMA Superman 500 GMT, we got more into the details of the history of Yema if you'd like to read that review as a precursor to this review.

YEMA went ahead and sent us two dive watches to review, one in 39mm and the other in 41mm so that we could get a feel for both size divers. For the 39mm YEMA sent in the Superman 500 GMT and for the 41mm watch they sent in the Superman 500 Dato. Both are members of the Superman family of dive watches, which debuted in 1963 just ten short years after the first commercially available dive watch, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, was released.



The Superman series has been in YEMA's catalog for 60 years and is arguably the brands most important model. Hallmarks of the Superman series are a high contrast dial with lumed elements, an over 300 meter water resistance and a uni-directional rotating bezel. One defining characteristic found in the Superman watches is the bezel lock system which uses a small piece of metal that locks the bezel in place when the crown is screwed in.

Unlike the 39mm Superman 500 GMT that we reviewed about a month ago, the 41mm Superman 500 Dato is a true dive watch. While the 500 GMT did have a 500 meter water resistance, it came with a GMT bezel which is convenient for traveling but not so much for diving. The Superman 500 Dato comes with a true 60 minute uni-directional dive bezel as well as the 500 meter water resistance. Like the Superman 500 GMT the 500 Dato also has the YEMA bezel lock system. I do also prefer the larger 41 mm size of the 500 Dato since dive watches are supposed to be large and legible. My 48 mm Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms is huge, but the watch is all dial and dive bezel, making its legibility top notch, which in low light situations such as diving is key.



The first thing I noticed about the 500 Dato when it arrived was the stainless steel scales bracelet it came on. The scales bracelet is a reissue of a similar bracelet released by YEMA in the 1960s. Each row of the bracelet is compromised by five pieces, with the inner three pieces resembling the scales of a fish. YEMA uses a brushed finish on the first, third and fifth pieces, while the second and fourth pieces are polished. This mixture of finishes along with the bracelet shapes really gives the Superman 500 Dato on the scales bracelet a distinct yet vintage look.

The next thing I noticed about the 500 Dato was how nice the action of the bezel was. Once I had unscrewed the crown and unlocked the bezel I was treated to a very nice and sure action to the 120 click bezel. There was zero back play with the bezel either, something my Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms has about half a second/minute of. The bezel also has a nice sound to it and is easy to turn from all directions, something I found a bit tricky in finding a good grip position to turn the bezel of the recently reviewed Omega Seamaster Diver 300M America's Cup.



Lastly, every time I play with the bezel lock system from YEMA I'm just blown away with how simple yet effective the system is. The absolute worst thing that can happen during a dive is your bezel being turned by mistake. While a un-directional bezel does stop the chance of a bezel making a dive seem shorter than it actually is, which is life threatening, things can still go wrong like a broken bezel spring. With YEMAs bezel lock system, once the bezel is set and the crown is screwed in, the bezel is just not able to be turned. Also having the bezel lock only being activated once the crown is screwed in is a great move as well, since no diver will enter the watch with the crown un-screwed. Bezel security just isn't seen enough in modern dive watches, the push down to turn security system on my IWC GST Aquatimer 2000 is one of my favorite things about the watch for example.

Now that we've spoken about what initially caught my attention with the YEMA Superman 500 Dato, let's move on to the technical specs. The watch is crafted out of 316L stainless steel with a case diameter of 41 mm and a lug to lug length of 49.7 mm. The watch has a thickness of 13.5 mm and when sized for a 7.25 wrist weighs 153 grams.



The Superman 500 Dato has a very pronounced double domed sapphire crystal giving the watch a great vintage look. Under the crystal clear sapphire is a matte white dial with a slight sand effect. The dial has printed black hour markers with grade A Super-Luminova applied to them. 12 o'clock is a triangle and 6 o'clock is a stick index, while the rest of the hours are round indices. The dial markers glow a brilliant green when in low light conditions.

The hour, minute and seconds hands are blackened and are covered with a healthy amount of Super-Luminova. The seconds hand also has a red mark below the lumed tip. I do love that YEMA used an enlarged dive minute hand, since this is the most important hand while diving. There is also a white backed dial matching date window at 3 o'clock. Normally I'm not a fan of date windows on a diver, but this window actually works well as an hour marker on the 500 Dato.



Completing the dial of the Superman 500 Dato is a black printed minute track around the outside of the dial. There is a YEMA logo and "Superman" text found at 12 as well. "Automatique 500 Metres" and "France" can be found at 6. The stark while dial with black markers makes for great contrast on the dial, which is paramount for a dive watch.

YEMA picked to use a rather skinny bezel on the Superman 500 Dato, measuring around 4 mm wide on our calipers. There is a black aluminum bezel insert with a 60 minute dive scale on it. I do like that YEMA went with aluminum of the 500 Dato, since it sticks with the vintage aesthetic of the watch. The thickness of the bezel took a while to get used to since I'm used to much more pronounced dive bezels.



As mentioned previously, the YEMA Superman 500 Dato has a 120 click uni-directional bezel that has great action and sound to it. Also the bezel is nice and tight with no back play or sloppy feel to it. Once the bezel lock is disabled the bezel is a breeze to set. The scalloping on the bezel is pretty small, but there is more than enough grip to operate the bezel with no fuss.



The 500 Dato has large crown guards that completely cover the screw down crown. The top of the crown is polished and has the YEMA logo on it. There is nice grip to the crown and screwing and un-screwing the crown caused no issues. Once the bezel is unscrewed, the crown lock metal insert is now loose and the bezel can be set. The bottom of the bezel lock metal is a bit sharp though, it didn't cause us any issues, but you can definitely feel its sharpness. When un-screwed the crown allows for manual winding, pulling the crown out to position one allows for the date to be set and position two allows for time setting. Position two also stops the seconds hand for exact time setting and pushing the crown back in fully causes no jump in the minute hand.



Looking at the top and sides of the case reveals something not often seen on dive watches, which is that the stainless steel case is completely polished. Typically you will see dive watches that are either fully brushed or a mixture of brushed and polished surfaces. Normally for a tool watch like a diver I'd prefer brushed surfaces, but when on the scales bracelet that has large sections of brushed areas, the polished case works well. Also the case is rather thin, with the big domed sapphire adding most of the perceived bulk, so you really don't get too much of a polished area.

Flipping the watch over shows off the more tool watch like brushed solid stainless steel case back. The case back screws on and when combined with the screw down crown aids in the 500 meter water resistance of the Superman 500 Dato. The center of the case back is reserved for the YEMA crest and various information about the watch is printed around the case back including water resistance.



Underneath the case back is the in-house caliber YEMA2000 automatic movement. The movement beats at 28,800 VPH (4 Hz) and offers 42 hours of power reserve. The functions of the movement are hours, minutes, seconds and date. The movement is designed, developed and assembled in Morteau France by YEMA's watchmakers. YEMA quotes the movement as having an accuracy of +/- 10 seconds a day and on our timegrapher the movement registered -5 seconds per day of accuracy. That result is well within the specs that YEMA quotes for the movement.

The lug width on the 41 mm Superman 500 Dato is 20 mm meaning the watch can be paired with pretty much unlimited aftermarket straps making the 500 Dato a real strap monster. The lugs are also drilled, which I love to see on a watch. Besides having screwed in spring bars, drilled lugs are my next favorite lug type. The watch YEMA sent came with the amazing scales bracelet also made out of 316L stainless steel like the case of the watch. The scales bracelet has a five piece construction with more substantial pieces on each end and three scale like pieces in the middle of the bracelet. The middle and two outer pieces are brushed, while the second and fourth pieces are polished, which gives a very unique look to the bracelet. This bracelet design also makes the bracelet articulate well, helping with comfort.



The scales bracelet is sized using screwed in links, which is nice to see at the price point of the Superman 500 Dato. The bracelet features a flip lock deployant clasp which features the YEMA logo and has a mix of brushed and polished finishes. The bracelet tapers down from 20 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the clasp. While there are no on the fly micro adjustments, there is a divers extension for getting the watch to fit over a wetsuit. There are also a few adjustment points on the clasp where with a spring bar tool you can make the bracelet a tiny bit longer or shorter.



We've had the YEMA Superman 500 Dato for just over a month and I've worn the watch many times. While the watch is rather heavy at 153 grams, the watch never caused any wrist fatigue and sat nice and square on my wrist. Being constructed out of stainless steel and having a solid case back and stainless steel bracelet, the weight of the watch was always going to be there. Typically I wear watches made out of titanium, carbon or ceramic, so the weight took a bit to get used to. With my wrist being 58.5 mm wide, the under 50 mm lug to lug seemed a bit small to me, but I do own many watches larger than the Superman 500 Dato, so that's just me. Most people would find the 41 mm version too large for them and opt for the 39 mm variant based on current trends.



With a black and white aesthetic, the Superman 500 Dato went well with my typical dress of black t-shirts, shorts and sneakers. While I had the watch the weather was pretty hot and humid in Austin, so I sized the watch a little large for me since I couldn't adjust on the fly and just hate a tight metal bracelet. I think I found a sweet spot with the sizing since the watch never felt too loose or got too restrictive while wearing it in the hot weather.

Most of the people I showed the watch to while wearing it commented that they liked the bracelet the most on the watch. Many also commented on how interesting the very domed sapphire crystal looked. When I told them the Superman 500 Dato only retailed for $1,149 on the bracelet and $100 less on a strap they were shocked by the price. A lot of the friends and acquaintances I show watches to are used to some of the very expensive watches I have on wrist, so it says something about how well executed the Superman 500 Dato is, that many thought the watch held its own to watches that cost significantly more when handled by watch laymen.



For just over $1,000 you are getting a ton for your money with the YEMA Superman 500 Dato, by looking at some competitors hopefully we'll illustrate just how good of a deal the watch is. Remember the Superman 500 Dato comes with an in-house movement developed by YEMA, 500 meters of water resistance and a very long heritage as it comes to dive watches.

A great place to start would be the Squale 1521 which is a 42 mm stainless steel watch that retails for $1,315 on a stainless steel bracelet. The Squale also has a water resistance of 500 meters, but uses the off the shelf Sellita SW 200-1 automatic movement with a bit less power reserve. Squale does also have a strong legacy in the history of dive watches where it produced cases for such famed watches as the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Doxa SUB.



Next let's take a look at the Tudor Black Bay monochrome, which is a 41 mm stainless steel watch on a stainless steel bracelet that retails for $4,550. The Black Bay does have an in-house movement with 70 hours of power reserve, but comes in four times more expensive than the YEMA. The Black Bay also offers less than half the water resistance of the Superman at 200 meters.

Moving on we have the Seiko Prospex PADI Special Edition which is a 42.4 mm stainless steel watch on a steel bracelet. The Seiko retails for a little less than the YEMA at $750 and offers a mass produced Seiko Caliber 4R36 movement with 41 hours of power reserve. Once again the Seiko offers less than half of the YEMAs water resistance with a rating of 200 meters. The styling of the Seiko is also a bit more divisive than that of the classic diver look of the YEMA.



Finally we have the Longines Legend Diver which is a 39 mm stainless steel dive watch also on a stainless steel bracelet. The Longines is a bit smaller than the YEMA and also features an in-house movement created by in-group ETA. The caliber L888 has automatic winding and is good for 72 hours of power reserve. The Legend Diver is also good for 300 meters of water resistance, 200 less than the Superman 500 Dato. The Longines does cost over three times more than the YEMA at $3,400 though.

As you can see, nothing can really touch the price of the YEMA Superman 500 Dato that offers both an in-house movement and a 500 meter water resistance. You are looking at spending at least three times more to get a watch from a well known manufacture that has both and in-house movement and similar water resistance.



So is the YEMA Superman 500 Dato for me? Being that I prefer over 50 mm lug to lug and watches that are crafted out of lightweight materials, the Superman 500 Dato isn't for me, but I have very specific and knowingly dated tastes. If the watch was 42-44 mm and crafted out of titanium, carbon or ceramic I'd be all over it. I also never wear a watch on a bracelet, all of my watches are on rubber, leather or Velcro straps. The current trends are totally against my likes though with 39-40 mm being the Goldilocks size and bracelets being the most popular option of sports watches and divers. Don't get me wrong I did thoroughly enjoy wearing the Superman 500 Dato, but it just doesn't fall inside of my wheelhouse.

Would I recommend the YEMA Superman 500 Dato for anyone looking for an affordable diver that offers a ton of bang for your buck? Yes of course, the Superman 500 Date gives you so much for just over $1,000. The in-house movement is a great alternative to the countless watches paired with a Sellita or ETA movement and also runs at great accuracy. 500 meters of water resistance is no joke, I do own a few watches with 1000, 2000 and 4000 meters of water resistance, but they come at a much much higher price of entry. Most well respected dive watches will boast 200 or 300 meters of water resistance with 500 being very rare. Of course none of us are even going to 50 feet, much less 50 meters or 500 meters, but it's nice to know YEMA over engineered the watch to be able to.



The Superman series sits nicely in the early history of dive watches along with the Fifty Fathoms, Submariner, SUB300 and Seamaster, it's nice to see a modern version that still offers value for the money, something the others, especially the Fifty Fathoms and Submariner, no longer do. I truly feel if you give the Superman 500 Dato a shot in your collection, you'll be more than happy with your choice.

I'd really like to thank Antoine and everyone over at YEMA for sending us the two Superman watches to review. They were both a great introduction to the brand for me and I walked away pleasantly surprised by them. I really can't wait to see what YEMA sends us next to review!



For more information about the Superman 500 Dato please visit : YEMA

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: YSUP23A41-BM2S

Retail Price: $1,149

Case Size: 41 mm

Lug to Lug: 49.7 mm

Thickness: 13.5 mm

Weight: 153 Grams

Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel

Bezel: Aluminum

Strap: 316L Stainless Steel Scales Bracelet with Stainless Steel Deployant Clasp

Movement: YEMA YEMA2000 In-House Automatic

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 42 Hours

Water Resistance: 500 Meters