HYT continues to break rules in Fine Watchmaking

With the introduction and usage of new materials and unconventional mechanisms, the renowned Swiss independent watch brand presents this year an array of remarkable timepieces that follow its ethos in breaking the laws of classic craftsmanship and traditional Fine Watchmaking

Must be dubbed as the “rebels of horology”, the experts at HYT have certainly broken a few rules in Fine Watchmaking. Distinguished for being the keen experimenters to mix the classic mechanism with liquid substances, HYT Hydro-Mechanical Watchmakers are indeed extreme alchemists turning dreams into reality.

Since the days of the pharaohs, where water clocks were a fixed entity, no brand has achieved the feat to enable water to tell the time – but HYT has done exactly that with a portable watch that is freedom on the go. With the right mix of avant-garde watchmaking developments, engineering pushed to its heights, high-tech materials, and a design that generates genuine emotions, HYT has successfully created the ultimate in hybrid technology: The fluid mechanics evident in its first masterpiece “H1”.

The genesis of the short life span of HYT proved to be rooted far longer than its inception in 2012 and release of the H1. Yet during the same year, HYT already won three awards including the Best Innovative Watch 2012 – Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève; Best concept watch of the year – SIAR in Mexico; and Best concept watch of the year – Watch World Award in India.

Last year, the independent Swiss brand had launched 13 novelties, opened 66 points of sale and sold 450 pieces. Looking forward through 2016, HYT wishes to open more than 80 points of sale worldwide as well as unveils its remarkable novelties. 

Skull Bad Boy
This new timepiece asserts its “skull” motif paired with a new black liquid that would result to its distinctive character.

T the skull is coated with a new composite material, created to resemble Damascus steel. Casting multiple layers of steel and carbon in batches of five skulls created an ever-changing interplay of its two component materials. The steel is an eye-catching grey, while the black colour of the carbon is revealed by a chemical abrasion process.

All the functionalities of the original Skull timepiece have been preserved. The power reserve indicator sits in the right eye socket, which gets darker as the piece reaches the end of its 65-hour power reserve. The left eye socket houses the seconds disc, permanently, imperceptibly, turning.

H2 ALINGHI
Following the series of releases this 2016, another outstanding addition is the latest H2 Alinghi that provides interesting functions such as retrograde fluidic hours, minutes a “déphaseur angulaire” (jumping hand) at 30 minutes, crown position indicator and thermal indicator.

The 25-piece limited edition H2 Alinghi finds its power from the mechanical movement with manual winding exclusive HYT calibre. Beating at the rate of 21,600 VpH, the calibre ensures a long and steady power reserve of 192 hours.

Polished, micro-blasted and satin-finished, the massive 48.8 mm diameter case in titanium is water resistant to 50 metres. It further features a titanium case middle, protected crown and dome at 6 o’clock with the Alinghi’s logo engraved in red varnish and the word “Alinghi” engraved in black varnish. The domed sapphire crystal comes with anti-reflection coating on the inside while the sapphire back appears screwed.

Its mesmerising appeal is attributed to the aluminium hour dial with black numerals that flaunts its unstructured, fluidic hours and sapphire minute dial with black galvanic minute hand. The beauty of this timepiece finished with its dark charcoal grey fabric with a black stitching fitted with titanium deployant buckle.

H1 ICEBERG2
The colour blue, which is reminiscent of water, makes an impact to the new H1 Iceberg2. The various blued components, as well as materials such as sapphire, beautify the mechanical complexity of this timepiece while highlighting pleasing contrasts for this remarkable 50-piece limited edition.

H1 Full Gold
After delving into the world of classic watchmaking (H2 Tradition), HYT explores noble materials with the H1 Full Gold. This Full Gold version is still a pure H1 wherein the technical and aesthetic canons remain unchanged.

Yet upon closer inspection, the H1 Full Gold asserts its difference: The hour capillary has now been filled with a black fluid. It has been developed from scratch in partnership with Preciflex, the company responsible for all HYT fluid developments.

H2 Tradition
With this watch, HYT crafts with classic guilloché finishes for the first time. And, it is also the first HYT piece with delicate lacquered dials and blued hands.

To achieve the balance between tradition and modernity, it has been re-centred to provide room on the dial for the minutes. This simple shift meant a large part of the movement's design had to be overhauled, a feat once again achieved by HYT's long-standing partners, APRP. The case has also been re-designed, with the crown protector removed, in yet another nod towards the codes of watchmaking tradition.

The finish of the H2 Tradition also required a number of adjustments. To allow for a diamond guilloché finish in rhodium-plated nickel silver on both sides, the main plate, for example, had to be made slightly thicker, which in turn meant new tolerances had to be calculated for the movement. All the bridges have been modified, reconstructed, polished and hand-bevelled.

H1 GHOST
This year, HYT produced an outstanding piece designed around a new completely opaque black fluid produced in-house by Preciflex. The watch makes a fascinating turn-around since the opaque fluid does not emit or reflect any light, thus at night, it appears invisible.

To ensure readability of H1 Ghost in the dark, HYT developed a unique use of Super-LumiNova where the material illuminates the capillary from underneath along its entire translucent stretch, beyond the black fluid.

More so, the fascinating features reach the black DLC titanium case that presents alternating brushed, micro-blasted and satin-finished finishes. Very dark, nocturnal tones highlight the white hour and minute indices and the white power reserve. The minute hand continues entirely black, but ends in a luminescent dot. And while the black fluid tirelessly pushes back its luminescent counterpart, only the light alone is capable of indicating the hour.