HYT

HYT
Davide Cerrato
The pioneers of “fluidic time” have become specialists in something that had long been thought impossible: combining mechanics and fluids in a wristwatch.

HYT was born from a dream to introduce fluid into the display of a mechanical watch and thus return the measurement of time to its very origins with the first water clocks that date back several thousand years.

The project involved bringing together engineers, chemists and microtechnicians to work on finding a way not only of incorporating fluids into the time display of the watch, but also of connecting this display with the operation of a mechanical watch movement.

After considerable research and development, the solution was presented in the form of a minuscule capillary tube in which two immiscible liquids were pushed around using a pair of bellows that are driven by the mechanical movement. With one fluid transparent and the other one coloured, the meniscus between the two provided the reference point for indicating the hour.

The scientists at HYT faced a number of challenges in pursuit of their goal, such as how to produce the capillary, how to coat the inside to ensure a smooth flow of the fluids, how to ensure the colour of the fluids remains stable over time and how to regulate the flow so that the correct time is displayed accurately.

The resulting watches remain unique in the industry with their colourful fluidic time displays married with Swiss Made mechanical watch movements. In its relative short history, the HYT watch collection has demonstrated the flexibility of this technology with high-end models showing off the fine art of watchmaking, design-oriented models, a unique skull-shaped capillary and even a horizontal fluidic display.

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