HYT H1 and H2 Watches- What Makes Them Tick?

The winner of this week’s “Photo Friday” contest was an HYT H1 watch. It is such an interesting watch and not one that you see people wearing very often. Obviously, our fans that voted for this watch can appreciate it and can tell that this watch is different than most luxury watches. HYT is not a brand that is as widely recognized as Rolex or Breitling.

HYT watches are very different from any other luxury watch. While many other watches work and “tick” the same way, the HYT watches “tick” completely different. But we will get into that a little bit later.

At Baselworld, we had the opportunity to take a look at HYT and its watches. That began our intrigue into the brand. With one glance at the HYT watches, it is obvious that these are not your typical luxury watches. On first glance, one’s initial thought might be, “Huh?”. And I think that is probably HYT was trying to achieve. This watch inspires intrigue and curiosity. The typically watch has a hand to tell the hour, minute, and often the seconds. There is a silver subdial in the middle of HYT dial that has a hand to show the minutes and a smaller dial to show seconds. But what about the hours? That is where this watch gets interesting. The hour and minute are display around the edge of the dial with a liquid that travels around the dial. You hear that and you think “I thought liquid inside of a case can corrode the movement of a watch?”. And that is why HYT’s technology and innovation is so amazing.

HYT calls this the “Hydro System.” The mechanical movement, which is in the top part of the watch, drives the cam, which then pushes the pistons, activating the bellows, which are visible on the dial. The bellows are made of a an electro-deposited alloy. As the bellows are activated, liquid is then pumped to the outside of the watch to display the correct time.

But how does this work? Seven patents have been granted to HYT as they have created a liquid that is the correct color, is water resistant, and will not change with vibrations or temperature changes. The liquid is pumped from the bellow at 6:00 and is received by the other bellow once it has completed its trip around the outside of the dial.

Other factors that add to the uniqueness of this watch is it’s construction. The dial has a sapphire crystal which is topped by  a dome at 6 o’clock. The middle, larger subdial shows the minutes and the smaller, water-wheel like subdial shows seconds. In addition to the minute and seconds subdial, there is a power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock. This watch is rather large, measuring a diameter of 48.8mm and 17.9mm in thickness.

The HYT H2 is newer and features many of the same functions. One of the most noticeable differences is the bellows, which are in a V-shape, rather than straight up and down. Also, the dial of the H2 features a temperature indicator and a “H-N-R” crown position indicator. It is the same size as the H1 watch and functions very similarly to the H1.

This is truly an amazing and innovative brand. It offers something different from your typical luxury watch brands that have been making watches the same way for a long time. HYT only has two models, the H1, which is offered in 8 different variations, and the H2, which only comes in 1 piece.