Using your own, in-house calibre movements is something that sets makers like JLC, Rolex, Patek Philipe and others apart from many watch brands. After a long argument with the EU about ETA’s near-monopoly on movement supply, the Swiss decided a few years ago that it would be better if Breitling, TAG and others built their own movement production lines. Great idea.

Now the problem for Indie brands is that buying a movement in from Seiko, Sellita or ETA is a much cheaper option than joining this elite club and manufacturing your own movements. So hats off to Yema, who are looking to crowdfund the project on Kickstarter in October.

Yema aim to make a series 2000 and 3000 GMT movement calibre, using funds from watch fans around the world. It could work. There is huge demand for GMT automatic watches and Yema has a heritage that dovetails nicely with the GMT international jet-set ethos.

It will be quite a coup for France if they can pull this off, and the new 42 hour reserve, 29 jewel movement is a winner. They could export it to other Indie watch brands in future too. More info on the Yema GMT 3000 project here.