Everything you think can be done is done in watchmaking. Well, three years ago, HYT showed us nothing, and the watchmaking industry can still develop, and brought some appropriate innovative mechanisms and complexity, when they introduced us to what we thought was completely incompatible with the movement Things: liquid. That is H1, which is great. Later, there were some developments. We were in H4, and we reviewed it extensively here. However, the evolution will not stop, because a new version of this timepiece will be launched soon, HYT H4 Alinghi – it hides something very special…
Basically, HYT H4 is H1 (H2 and H3 timepieces are much more complicated). It is based on the same movement architecture as H1 (hence a two-part movement with a mechanical module and an internal fluid module manufactured by Chronode) and has been skeletonized. There is no longer a real dial. Instead, the movement is covered by a sapphire crystal with an indicator printed on it, so the inside of the movement can be viewed. However, its fluid mechanism is the same as H1, and there is no development on this limited edition HYT H4 Alinghi. We found how the HYT works on the back of the capillary indicating the hours and the 12 minutes on the off-centre adjustable dial.
Just like the ordinary HYT H4 Gotham, the HYT H4 Alinghi uses a 51mm carbon fiber case. The central part and lugs are processed from a single piece of super-hard 3DTPTM carbon fiber. It includes carbon wire, the maximum diameter of the carbon wire is 7 microns, and the thickness layer is 0.15 mm. Depending on the angle, it will show straight patterns (on the sides) or randomly arranged fibers (on the lugs or borders). The evolution is derived from the colors used on the dial (the inscription on the minute dial is now white, while the number 12 is red), and the ball at 6 has also painted its numbers in red. The strap is also very new-a black rubber base with silver sail canvas and red stitching. Above the second small indicator, we can find the Alinghi logo (sail team sponsored by HYT).
So where is the real novelty? In fact, it cannot be seen during the day. HYT H4 Alinghi is equipped with a light source. HYT has two LEDs hidden under the rider at 6 o’clock. Once activated, they flood the dial with white light. At night, the red liquid is excited by this light source and becomes perfectly visible. So now you might think that there is a battery in this watch? …Luckily, no. This is a mechanical device, like a generator (converting mechanical energy into light energy). In fact, turning the button at 4:30 will wind the generator. Then, pressure on the same button activates two LEDs, which light up the dial of the HYT H4 Alinghi. This lighting may last up to five seconds, after which the mechanism must be reinitialized.
This mechanism (with incredible miniaturization) was added to the existing movement, but it was invisible from the dial side, located between 4 and 5. You can guess slightly from the back, but don’t worry, there are no electronic parts visible. HYT H4 Alinghi is always a purely mechanical watch.
time flies. With HYT H1
Usually, the liquid and the watch do not mix well. Most watch manufacturers go to great lengths to keep things like water out, and over the years have made some impressive diving watches.
The idea of using liquid inside a watch is not new. Diver watches often use silicone oil to cope with the pressure under extreme conditions. In addition, we also saw Concord C1 Quantum Gravity, which uses a fluid pool as a power reserve indicator. However, HYT took it to a new level, incorporating liquid into the time display!
The HYT brand is led by Vincent Perriard. In recent years, he has participated in the aforementioned Concord, Hamilton, Technomarine and Audemars Piguet. Vincent and his superb team of “hydraulic mechanical watchmakers” came up with an extraordinary timepiece called H1. H1 was first shown to the public before Baselworld in February 2012. Like Devon Tread 1, it caused an uproar among critics and fans when it was first shown because it was different from what the watch industry had seen before.
The fact that makes H1 so unique is the circular tube and the two visible pistons located between the 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions. There are many things moving on the dial side of the watch, but the creepy green glowing slimy tube is definitely the biggest eye-catcher. The tube surrounds the entire dial and is filled with a substance called fluorescein. When the adjustment time passes through the rubber-coated crown between 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock, the liquid will be pushed back and forth. When you set the time, the liquid will react to every revolution you make. It looks neat and will definitely play with the owner. As far as the watch industry is concerned, this is indeed something groundbreaking, and I can imagine it must have caused headaches.
The liquid in the test tube almost resembles a retrograde hour marker. It enters the dial at 6 o’clock, moves around the dial and scales as time passes, and ends again at 6 o’clock. When the time reaches 06:00.01 or 18:00.01 of that time, the liquid returns to the beginning and restarts its journey. All these movements are powered by the movement, which is great. It is packaged in the upper part of the casing and wound manually. So far, you may not have anything spectacular, even if the Côtes de Genève decoration on the back of the movement is quite traditional.fake watches
The fun begins when the power of the movement alternately acts on the two pistons, compressing one bellows and retracting the other bellows, forcing the liquid through the tube. Pistons and bellows can be seen from the front and back of the case, which also doubles the visual effect of this watch.
One result of separating the hour marker from the minute and second display is that it becomes an automatic adjustment device. However, the advantage of H1 is that it does not attract too much attention, rather than a visual feast that occurs over time. The minutes are displayed on a smaller dial, which is located on the upper part of the dial, above the two pistons. They used an interesting little indicator for the second time, spinning quietly between 9 and 10 o’clock. It reminds me of a small paddle wheel in a fish tank circulating pump.
This movement is unique to HYT, contains 35 jewels and runs at a common speed of 28,800 vibrations per hour. It has a 65-hour power reserve, which can be seen through an indicator between 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock, and is housed in a 49 mm wide and 18 mm thick case. Of course, both the front and back of the case are sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating. The watch uses a leather-lined canvas strap or a hand-stitched alligator strap.
H1 will provide up to 4 versions. Titanium, black DLC coated titanium, DLC coated rose gold and rose gold and rose gold. HYT ensures that as much shock protection is added to the movement and case to ensure that it can still be worn under the most common conditions. They want to make this watch wearable as an everyday timepiece, and I believe that every watch should be so. wearable.
As we said, HYT H1 travels around the world and the first batch of works has been delivered. HYT will undoubtedly introduce more and more complex replica swiss watches with the technology originally developed for H1. Maybe they can even turn it into other complications. H1 is likely to become the basic model of the brand, although I am almost ashamed of it. The complete rose gold version will be much higher than this version. It’s cheap anyway, as I expected, when I saw it for the first time, it would eventually cost more.