Even though it often feels like the dive watch market is saturated (sorry?) with options, if you?re after a diver with true heritage going back to the glory days when these watches first became popular, your options are surprisingly few. Rolex, of course, but who can get one" Blancpain is another option with real diver bona fides, but the Fifty Fathoms requires deep pockets. Omega, Tudor, and Doxa are other brands worth considering, and I?m sure many readers will chime in with personal favorites like Aquastar, but continuously operational brands with truly iconic divers are few and far between. One that is often forgotten is Yema, the French brand responsible for the Superman, which traces its roots all the way back to the early 1960s. It has a distinctive design with a locking bezel, and like most classic watches, hasn?t changed all that much over the decades. The newest version of the Superman, the Superman 500, features subtle changes that might fly under the radar unless you?re keenly aware of them, and is worth checking out if you?re after an alternative to the diver mainstays. 
The Superman is very much the prototypical skin-diver, made to be wearable by just about anyone either underwater or topside, and not necessarily as a tool built for professionals. The Superman 500 is available in 39mm and 41mm cases, and both feature the typical long lug design and are relatively trim, measuring just 13.4mm thick in both diameter options. The bezel locking feat...