LeJour Yachtingraf

1961, JeanRichard SA — parent company of Aquastar — filed a patent for a unique type of watch. 

Frédéric Robert, the founder of Aquastar as well as one of its chief designers, took a Felsa 4000N  movement and modified it to display a five minute counter, located on a disc on top of the movement. Robert then added a third wheel and connected to a pusher — once depressed, the pusher would reset the seconds hand to zero and start a countdown, visible on the disc.

This watch, the Aquastar Regate, has gone down in horological history as the first regatta timer, and has spawned countless successors — like this watch, the LeJour Yachtingraf.

It seems odd that a sport as esoteric as yachting would have its own watch, but the first regatta timers were created in an age of economic prosperity. Freed from the constraints of post-war rationing, people suddenly had more free time, and the resources to fill it with sports. Aquastar, which was founded by a SCUBA diving enthusiast, was only capitalizing on this sporting boom.

Yema was just another brand that took the idea of a yachting chronograph and ran with it — or, should we say… sailed? They debuted the Yachtingraf debuted in 1966, using a patented design for ‘yachting and underwater use.’ Unlike the Aquastar Regate, the Yachtingraf combined a chronograph with the regatta timer. The Yachtingraf would prove immensely popular, and would be produced in six different versions from 1966 to 1970, when the model was discontinued.

Many of these watches were sold under the brand name LeJour, Yema’s distributor in the United States — including the watch we offer here.

This particular Yachtingraf from the 1970s is housed in a 39mm stainless steel case with an acrylic crystal, an unsigned crown, a bi-directional, rotating countdown bezel. It features matte black tritium dial with applied indices and a matching ‘pencil’ handset, a regatta countdown ‘big eye’ register, and a running seconds register. It’s powered by the Valjoux Calibre 7733 manually-wound chronograph, an affordable and easy-to-service movement used throughout the industry, and comes paired to a black leather strap with an unsigned, stainless steel pin buckle.

The Yachtingraf combines everything we love about 1960s chronographs — a nice size and sharp looks — with robust internals. Although we’d be hard-pressed to find ourselves wearing one in the midst of a yacht race, it’s perfect for casual wear on solid ground.

French-founded LeJour is known within watch-collecting circles for its ties to two famed brands: Heuer and Yema. Beginning in 1980, it operated under a private label arrangement to act as the European distributor for Heuer-made chronographs. (In fact, certain models such as the Heuer Pasadena and the LeJour Reference 7203 used the exact same cases.) Prior to 1980, however, LeJour operated as the U.S. distributor for Yema.
Yema, which is credited with creating France’s first automatic chronometers, was — and is once again — well known for its regatta timers, including the Yachtingraf and others. Certain of their watches, however, were issued in the States under the LeJour name. Feature-heavy, well designed and attractive, these LeJour chronographs still represent tremendous value next to their more visible counterparts from celebrated marques.
Besides complicated regatta timers, LeJour also issued its own, signed versions of Yema’s famous dive watch, the Superman, as well as the aforementioned LeJour iteration of the Heuer Pasadena.

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Condition

Since our pieces are vintage or pre-owned, please expect wear & patina from usage and age. Please read each item description and examine all product images.

Warranty

We back each Analog:Shift vintage timepiece with a one-year mechanical warranty from the date of purchase.

International Buyers

Please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.

All of our watches include complementary insured shipping within the 50 states.

Most of our products are on hand and will ship directly from our headquarters in New York City. In some cases, watches will be shipped directly from one of our authorized partners.

We generally ship our products via FedEx, fully insured, within 5 business days of purchase. An adult signature is required for receipt of all packages for insurance purposes. Expedited shipping is available at an additional cost. We are also happy to hand deliver your purchase in Manhattan or you may pick it up at our showroom.

Returns must be sent overnight or by priority international delivery, fully insured and paid for by the customer. A restocking fee may apply. Watches must be returned in the same condition as initially shipped.

We welcome international buyers, please contact us prior to purchase for additional details on shipping and payment options.