It’s quite rare to see a Hysek and it’s even rarer to have the chance to wear one. Worldtempus was lucky enough to have one for a whole week to enjoy an uncommon experience of independent fine watchmaking.
What could be more annoying for a watch collector than to find himself sitting next to someone in a restaurant or at the office who is wearing the same watch? Very few things indeed. Choosing a Hysek reduces this probability of this happening to practically zero.
A totally reworked model
The IO skeleton tourbillon sets out the ground rules with its name: a skeleton tourbillon. It’s not a common undertaking, but it’s not unheard of either: from Graff to Raymond Weil via H. Moser & Cie and Jacob & Co., a number of brands have offered their own interpretations. What special touch does Hysek add?
The most obvious aspect is the arrangement of the watch’s components. The Hysek style often requires an arrangement at 1 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 7 o’clock and 11 o’clock. It is one of the characteristics of the brand. The IO skeleton tourbillon is no exception: mainspring barrel at 7 o’clock, tourbillon at 11 o’clock. The great success of this arrangement is that it actually looks naturally, even though it is unique. On the wrist, the watch is balanced and harmonious, whether worn on the right or left wrist.
The skeletonisation is also uncommon. Hysek, which produces all its components (except the balance spring) internally, has open-worked them to a level that is rarely seen. Just one number illustrates this perfectly: the raw mainplate for the IO leaves the CNC machine weighing 75 grammes. After being reworked into the skeleton tourbillon, it weighs just 6 grammes! On the wrist, it’s hardly surprising, therefore, that the piece is incredibly light.
Sweet music
This sensation is also helped by Hysek’s penchant for reducing the number of components in the watch to a minimum. The IO skeleton tourbillon only has 164. This sober and clean architecture allows you to focus on the essential, in particular the flying tourbillon in the foreground.
It attracts the eye, but also the ear: the large surface area of the watch (reduced this year from 49mm to 45mm), which is almost completely empty, acts like a soundboard. The 28,800 vibrations per hour are clearly audible, even at a distance. By day, watch geeks will adore this sweet horological music. But by night they may prefer to keep it away from their bedside table...
The same, but better
One of the new features on the 2015 edition of the IO skeleton tourbillon is a sunbrushed metallised case back. With this motif on the sapphire case back, the brand aims to obscure hairy wrists and help the watch to shine. It works: the metallisation is very discreet when you look closely at the watch, but it makes the case back look almost opaque when the watch is on the wrist. The procedure may not be new (think of the Corum Golden Bridge), but it is still convincing.
But the most surprising elements are often invisible. In order to bring the architecture of this IO to life, Hysek has machined some components that should almost be impossible to make. One in particular is worthy of note, since it cannot be seen: the winding wheel. It meshes with the crown at 3 o’clcok, winds the barrel spring at 7 o’clock and is then hidden beneath the bezel around the entire circumference of the watch. Conclusion: a component that is 39mm in diameter and 0.3mm thick, a nightmare to machine because of the high risk of breaking it.
A masterstroke from a manufacture to watch
In terms of technicality, style and finishing it’s difficult to find fault with this IO skeleton tourbillon. It succeeds in the delicate balance of offering something genuinely new to a great classic.
And at 99,000 Swiss francs, it beats its rivals. It shows the maturity of a brand that has become a manufacture and has a promising future ahead of it.
