Hydro Technology or HYT’s comes from a long journey of radical innovation, with over 3,400 year-old concepts coming together with space-air engineering to create what they call Hydromechanical Horology. The brand was founded in 2012 by Lucien Vouillamoz, Patrick Berdoz, and Emmanuel Savioz, who were on a hunt to solve a problem that had bothered watchmakers for centuries: how to safely inculcate liquid inside a wristwatch to tell time? Inspired by the ancient Egyptian cleosydras (water clocks) that used the flow of water to measure time, the brand launched the H1, the first wristwatch to use a mechanical movement to drive a fluidic display. Over the years, the horology brand has made it’s mark on the global watch market.
For the latest episode of Icons on the Wrist, we turn our focus to a timepiece that has pushed its boundary and how. The HYT’s S1 5N Gold Titanium is an exclusive edition of eight pieces worldwide and was crafted especially for the Indian luxury retailer, created to celebrate the partnership between the avant-garde Swiss watchmaker HYT and the Mumbai-based luxury retailer, Time Avenue.
The watch features a 45.3 mm octagonal case with the warmth of 18k 5N gold and the rugged look of black DLC-coated titanium. But did you know that the real easter egg is that the watch is powered by hydraulics? Instead of traditional hands, the watch houses a pair of high-tech bellows that pump coloured liquid through a microscopic glass tube that moves along the circumference of the dial to tell time.
Powered by the Calibre 501-CM, a manual winding mechanical movement, which consists of 352 intricate parts, delivering a 72-hour power reserve. The manual winding mechanical movement features an intricate open-work anthracite dial that puts the watch’s mechanical engine and bellows on full display. Apart from this, the timepiece is also water-resistant up to 50 metres (5 ATM), ensuring durability alongside its avant garde fluidic timekeeping.
To know more about the HYT S1 5N Gold Titanium, check out the full video.