Wow Watch Wednesday – The HYT H1 (VIDEO)
If there is one new brand that has really been creating a buzz during the annual watch fair season it has to be HYT. A not unimpressive feat when you consider that they haven’t actually released any watches yet but then again this is no ordinary brand. Scheduled for an official launch at BaselWorld 2012, HYT’s first creation – the H1 – promises to revolutionize the world of watch-making.
Whether it will or not remains to be seen but it’s certainly got our attention at least, and so we decided to take a closer look.
So, Who Is HYT?
HYT has really only burst onto the scene in the last few months and is made up of an eclectic mix of six individuals, including former Concord President Vincent Perriad at the helm as CEO. Those familiar with the watch industry will no doubt remember that Perriad briefly became the CEO of Technomarine amid much fanfare in 2009 but was quietly shuffled out again by the brand less than 18 months later – a bit of a shame really as from our interview with him at the time it sounded like he had big plans for the fledgling brand.
Nonetheless, after a brief hiatus, it seems he is back with a vengeance and has bought a very cool new concept with him – liquid time display! Truth be told though the original concept was actually conceived by another, rather intriguing individual called Lucien Vouillamoz. A relative unknown in the watch world, Vouillamoz’s background is rather varied. By training he is a nuclear engineer with a degree in thermodynamics, however he is also or has at one time or another been a theologian, a journalist and an automobile consultant.
The remaining four members are a combination of money men and marketing gurus, all with valuable roles to play but largely irrelevant for our purposes. After all, we came here to learn more about this purportedly impressive timepiece!
The H1
If you haven’t seen the video or read anything about the new H1 yet than you’re probably wondering what is all the fuss about? Sure the dial looks cool but why are they calling it revolutionary? Well the big draw-card is the hour-indicator – it’s liquid! As time progresses throughout the day so too does the green liquid housed in the tube on the outer ring of the dial. A pretty remarkable feat when you consider that the effects of gravity need to be overcome not to mention the impact of regular movement and changes in angle a wrist-watch experiences during the course of a day.
So, how does it work? Well the idea behind the H1’s unique liquid time display is remarkably simple (relatively speaking of course!) Essentially there are two flexible reservoirs fixed to each end of a capillary. In one is an aqueous liquid filled with fluorescein, and in the other, a transparent viscous liquid. Keeping them separate is the repulsive force of the molecules in each liquid, with a meniscus to mark the boundary between the two.
Now as you can see there are two reservoirs at 06:00. When one compresses the other expands, and vice versa, resulting in the movement of the liquid in the capillary. As the hours go by, the fluorescent liquid advances. The meniscus, in the shape of a half moon, marks the breaking point with the other fluid in the tube, indicating the time. At 18:00, the fluorescent liquid comes back to its original position, going backwards.
Check out the video below to see the time-display in action:
The Driving Force
What makes this timepiece even cooler though is the fact that a highly complex mechanical movement powers the entire system. In order to get the two reservoirs to contract and expand accordingly, two bellows made of a flexible electro-deposited alloy are driven by a piston. Driving this piston in turn is a cam propelled by the mechanical movement.
According to the brand the main challenge lay in finding an interface between the mechanical movement and the hydro system in a closed, waterproof circuit – a task further complicated by the limited space available to house them both. They had to be assembled separately to keep them independent, and then made to operate simultaneously.
Movement expert Jean-François Mojon and his Chronode SA team were brought in to develop what would become the inaugural HYT calibre, a hand-wound mechanical movement with a 65 hour power reserve.
The real test though was developing liquids that conformed with the necessary set of watchmaking specifications, namely that they be resistant to vibrations, shocks and temperature changes. So innovative were the solutions required that the end result involved seven patents being registered for the technology and one for the design.
Aggressive Design
The design of the H1 is decidedly aggressive and according to the brand’s press release this was absolutely the intention; “The taut, aggressive design by Sébastien Perret dictates the testosterone- laden nature of the H1.” I’m not sure if I’d go quite as far as describing it has ‘testosterone-laden’ but at 48.mm it’s certainly big plus all that technology has to fit somewhere so it’s also going to be chunky.
Still the futuristic time display is quite easy to read and is well-suited to the incredible amount of technology included in this unique timepiece. For those who are really looking for something different, this is it.
No official word on pricing yet but some sources have indicated that it should be under six figures however we will have to wait and see.
The Final Word
The H1 and by extension HYT as a whole demonstrates what can be achieved by a brand when its resources and its vision are aligned. This is not a traditional watch-maker by any stretch of the imagination and one could even argue that they are not a watch-maker at all but rather a creative design studio that has realized a rather incredible product through collaboration with specialist manufacturers.
Either way, what we have here is an exciting new time display concept that challenges what was previously thought possible. Of course only history will tell us whether this idea goes on to be considered revolutionary or not or indeed if the brand will even be able to build on any early success. For the time being though we think it’s a pretty cool idea and definitely worth a second look.
To learn more please visit the official HYT website: www.hytwatches.com
Category: Wow Watch Wednesday
