HYT will be showcasing its updated H1.0 watches at WatchTime Los Angeles on May 3-4 of this year, and leading the collection will be its latest Black Fluid model. The watch was released in February 2019 after the brand first revealed the Blue, Green, and Red Liquid editions a month earlier at SIHH. Together, the watches have revitalized the brand’s collection through a sleeker and more comfortable design, alongside their unique styling and bold colorways.
The newest option for the H1.0 is much the same as the previous models, differing only in its coloring. With the three-dimensional dial constructed upon a 48.8-mm anthracite PVD coated steel case and protected by a deeply domed sapphire crystal, the unique architecture of the piece causes it to sit tall on the wrist at 20.8 mm. The dial is outlined using a steep, deeply grooved design, with engraved green numerals embedded to assist in keeping track of the hours. Resting on top of this feature is the HYT’s signature and patented fluidic module first released in 2012 which actively indicates the hour via the meniscus seen between the black colored and transparent liquids, both placed upon a teal background.
Deeper within the dial you’ll notice a red power reserve indicator on the right side — offering a bold contrast to the grays, blacks, and teal colors throughout the rest of the piece — while a rotating, unmarked seconds wheel adorns the right side. Placed at the center of the face is the watch’s minute ring, with two bellows and a grill-like design completing the bottom layers of the dial. The watch as a whole is a clean combination of metals and colors, with Super-Luminova C7 accenting throughout to assist in nighttime timekeeping. It is completed with a dark gray rubber strap secured using a matching anthracite PVD-coated titanium folding buckle.
Powering the unique watch is the HYT H1 manually-wound caliber developed in partnership with the Swiss movement manufacturer Chronode. For those still unfamiliar with the fluid technology, it operates by the reserved power of the mechanical movement powering the two spring-like bellows seen towards the bottom of the dial, which together pump the two immiscible fluids through the glass capillary tube. For the viewer of the watch, its supposed to offer a two-fold value, first in the futuristic coolness of the design, and secondly in the more “fluid” and comfortable transition of time over the ultra-precise ethos most common in luxury watchmaking.
Changing the time, which from a viewers perspective might seem like quite a feat, is actually very simple and accomplished in the traditional manner of pulling out the watch’s fluted, screw-down crown and turning it. The 35-jeweled movement is visible through a sapphire case back, decorated with beveled and Côtes de Genève bridges, and offers a 65-hour power reserve.
The brand plans to offer the H1.0 models for a 49,000 CHF, or about $48,500 USD.
To see the HYT H1.0 Black Fluid along with the rest of the brand’s offerings, as well as the watch world’s leading timepieces from 26 other brands, be sure to purchase your ticket to WatchTime LA on May 3-4 at Hudson Loft in Downtown LA.
