Destructured hours: HYT Watches

In that small universe where lakes reflect the Swiss Alps, Lucien Vouillamoz got the somewhat crazy idea of using contemporary technologies to bring water clocks back to life. For this purpose, he called upon the business angel Patrick Berdoz who already had some experience in the field of intellectual protection. Vouillamoz made the necessary investment and then turned to Emmanuel Savioz, a specialist of high-tech start-ups, to launch HYT. After a year of R&D, the initial idea was honed and the brand produced its first watch that featured a rectangular capillary in plexiglass and a drop-down membrane as well as flexible reservoirs held in transparent cylinders. Once the design was completed, Preciflex, HYT’s sister company based in Bienne, filed the patents. However, when Vincent Perriard was appointed the brand’s CEO in 2010, the company took a new turn.

Surrounded by a good team, the competent CEO modified different structural elements and called upon Bruno Moutarlier, ex-Industrial Manager of Audemars Piguet. To produce the movement, he hired the services of Jean-François Mojon and his team from Chronode. He also advised Vouillamoz, who oversaw the hydraulic (i.e. fluidic) side of the production in collaboration with Helbling Technik. Xavier Casals, an acquaintance of Perriard, was named artistic director while the “Etude & Style” office, led by Sébastien Perret, was given the responsibility of designing the models. This blend of skills brought about two powerful models that were produced in several versions. We are now going to talk about the last of them: the H2.

H1 and H2 always fluid

The young Swiss watchmaking brand drew inspiration from a water clock to create this collection. We believe it will cause an upheaval in popular belief, as it redefines the limits set by Haute Horlogerie to show that a liquid is today still able to display time using high technology.  The dials of both the H1 and the H2 are as always as simple as possible. On the H1 we find a bellows mechanism, a glass tube and indicators of the power reserve and permanent second, which can be read via a paddle wheel on the dial.

HYT H1: technical details

• 48.8 x 17.9-mm case
• There is the possibility of using different materials, including a gold, titanium and anodized aluminum blend
• Caliber: HYT-exclusive manual winding mechanism
• 28,800 vibrations per hour
• 65-hour power reserve
• Function: liquid hours, minutes, seconds
• Dial: non-standard with hours displayed through the liquid, minutes by a traditional hand and seconds visible through a paddle wheel
• Strap: rubber

HYT H2: technical details

• 48.8 x 17.9-mm case
• There is the possibility of using different materials, including a gold, DLC-treated black titanium and anodized aluminum blend
• Dynamometer crown
• Caliber: HYT-exclusive manual winding mechanism
• 21,600 vibrations per hour
• 192-hour power reserve
• Body for the indication of temperature on the left and crown function selector on the right
• Function: fluidic and retrograde hours, minutes with phase shifter
• Dial: non-standard with the hours displayed by liquid, the minutes displayed by a traditional hand with a phase shifter system that enables the minute hand to jump the stud at 6 o’clock to display the minutes in a most original way
• Strap: coated alligator

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This article is an extract of our page dedicated to New Horology