I don’t think it’s a controversial statement to say that watchmaking is pretty difficult. It’s a discipline where something so theoretically simple as keeping water out has taken centuries of development and millions of pounds of research and development. So, imagine the additional complexity HYT have taken upon themselves when they decided that they wanted to put liquid actually inside their watches as part of the display. Thankfully, they’ve proven themselves capable and now their hydromechanical displays are something of a signature, as shown by the new HYT S1 Ti core collection.
The S1 series is based on an 8-piece limited edition HYT produced for Japan a while ago, but now it’s a set of three watches with titanium cases that are not limited. They measure a very broad 45.3mm in diameter with angular, facetted designs that feel industrial. With integrated bracelets and lightweight construction, they’re designed to be HYT’s sportiest models. Between the three watches there are two case finishes to choose from, two with DLC coatings and the third with bead blasting.
For the dials, they build on that aesthetic and take the technical design of some of HYT’s most advanced watches like the Conical Tourbillon and present them in a time-only configuration. Well, technically time and power-reserve as they have minutes in the middle with a central hand, hours via the signature, retrograde fluid display around the periphery and an offset small seconds mirrored on the other side by a power reserve indicator. The displays are also openworked and at 6 o’clock you can see the pair of small bellows that control the pressure in the fluid tube to make the liquid move to the appropriate marks.
It’s the colour of the liquid that differs from watch to watch. The S1 Titanium DLC Blue has a blue liquid, the The S1 Titanium DLC Green is green and I imagine you can guess what colour the S1 Beadblasted Titanium Red is. Of the three, the blue feels the most serious and sporty while the red is the most daring and out there, especially combined with the lighter grey tone of its exposed titanium case.
The movement controlling it all is the Calibre 501-CM, an HYT staple that has been in use since 2012 in various collections. It’s manual-winding with a 72-hour power reserve. The integration of fluid dynamics into the movement obviously complicates things greatly, which is why the watch case has to be so big in order to accommodate it.
While this is a new core collection and permanent addition to the HYT stable, that doesn’t mean it’s cheap. The HYT S1 Ti will set you back CHF 58,000 (approx. £50,650).
Price and Specs:
Model:
HYT
S1 Collection
Ref:
H03418-A
(blue), H03419-A (green), H03420-A (red)
Case:
45.30mm
width x 46.30mm length x 17.20mm thickness, black coated satin finished titanium (blue, green), silver & black coated beadblasted titanium (red)
Dial:
Open-worked;
black coated brass with blue fluidic hours (blue), black coated brass with green fluidic hours (green), rhodium & black coated brass with red fluidic hours (red), borosilicate capillary tube
Water resistance:
50m
(5 bar)
Movement:
HYT
calibre 501-CM, manual winding, 352 parts, 41 jewels
Frequency:
28,800
vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve:
72h
Functions:
Hours,
minutes, seconds, power reserve indicator
Strap:
Pure
black rubber strap with additional pure black velcro strap (blue, green) or light grey velcro strap (red)
Price:
CHF
58,000 (approx. £50,650)
More details at HYT Watches.
Oracle Time