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Brian M. Afuang
November 23, 2018    |    

Let There Be Light (And Liquid)

HYT furthers its fascination with illumination and fluid with the release of new H4 versions

ON the wrist, they are quite imposing. And it’s not because of their 51-millimeter wide, 17.9-millimeter high cases. Or the bold colorways. Not even their unconventional aesthetics. HYT’s H4 timepieces, especially these freshly released limited-edition series, make a ringing statement because of their exotic construction. Plus, these things light up like crazy.

But it’s not how bright the illumination is that’s, well, dazzling about the watches. Rather, it’s the manner by which this illumination is achieved.

HYT’s efforts at miniaturization take a chunk of the credit here, as well as the brand having been able to make some of the movement’s components curve. These have allowed enough room for a micro generator to fit within the case. And it’s this dynamo that supplies the power to a pair of LEDs — which lights up the dial. No electronics involved, no batteries needed. Just cleverness.

Providing more light are fluorescent nano-particles in the transparent composite dials. Each of these has a perforation that catches light, allowing the dial another source of luminescence.

Just as clever is the system that reads out the time in an H4. It’s quite complex, this, as can be gleaned in the list of components forming the module, to wit: borosilicate glass capillary tube with nano-coated interior, multi-layer metal bellows, two types of immiscible liquids, a thermal compensator, and ceramic fluidic restrictors.

What these things do is display the hour. The “immiscible liquids,” one transparent, the other colored, run through the glass tube as they are driven by the bellows. The method is actually an HYT signature as the brand has found a use for something — liquid, to be specific — that should be detrimental to a timepiece. Well, HYT stands for “Hydromechanical Horologists.”

And, yes, mechanical. The H4, despite what its light-and-liquid show may lead one to believe, actually runs by way of a good old-fashioned collection of springs, levers and gears. Its in-house 35-jewel calibre is even handwound, beating at 28,800vph, and packs power good for 65 hours. This calibre transmits power to the fluidic module by converting rotational movement into a linear one, for which act it relies on a cam-follower system. This is serious horology, all right.

The new limited-edition H4 pieces — only 15 are available — have four versions. The watches’ black and silver metal parts are matched to predominantly red, green and blue color schemes while a fourth rendition sees touches of yellow. Whichever version though, all have cases made from black DLC-coated titanium, which feature micro-blasted and satin-finish surfaces. Also fashioned from the same material are the screw-down crown and pusher for the light, both of which get rubber cladding to match the color scheme of the watch they are fitted to. A domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating seals the watch on top while a screw-in caseback with a sapphire crystal window does the same on the opposite side. A black fabric strap with contrasting-color stitching (again depending on the color scheme of a particular watch) and a black DLC titanium buckle completes this even more dazzling H4 spectacle.

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