You need to undertsnad the "true temps" you are seeing. The sending unit is right up or near the top hose outlet, so as the coolant circulates it picks up all the heat from the internal metal and takes it up to the radiator for cooling.
But as it passes the sending unit , you have to realize the coolant will be at its hottest point. So yea, the gauge will read those hotter temps and send them to the gauge. But inside the block the internal metals should be cooler and also the fact that the coolant temps you are getting ,are temps of coolant that's leaving the motor, not whats in it.
If the radiator, fan and pump are doing there job, the coolant temps coming back into the motor in the bottom hose should be 15-20 deg cooler. The gauge is a good thing to have but you must understand what it reads and how it gets those readings.