HYT Skull: Skull Juice

Vincent Perriard’s small HYT watch brand is unveiling a major new release: the SKULL.

HYT (Hydro Mechanical Horologists) continues to explore its unique technology—blending mechanics and fluid—in a new timepiece.

The striking skull design on the dial was not merely the result of artistic research. Vincent Perriard and his team of mad scientists had to don their white lab coats, cover blackboards with lines of calculations, and run countless tests to achieve precise fluid circulation through a tube less than one millimetre in diameter, along a path featuring sharp angles approaching right angles.

The tube required special work to be bent into angles close to 90°.

Need I remind you that, on HYT watches, the liquid is used to tell the time, with a retrograde effect. Once twelve hours have been reached, the liquid runs back to start a new cycle.

The skull is a symbol that has been widely (too widely?) exploited by watchmakers. One thinks of Hublot, Romain Jerome, Richard Mille, Bell&Ross, etc.

That said, this symbol fully belongs in the representation of our relationship with time on a measuring instrument, and HYT’s interpretation is very compelling.

The skull, a reflection of our essence, is not the HYT Skull’s only bold move. Don’t look for the minutes: the watch indicates only the hours, via the liquid flowing through the capillary that forms the skull.

The choice is obviously not due to any technical limitation (see HYT’s H1 or H2). The result of conceptual research, the aim is clearly to focus all attention on the skull, which occupies the essential part of the dial.

The movement, visible on the dials of the brand’s previous models, is only visible from the caseback.

Power reserve in the eye

The skull also serves as a sign of the watch’s “life”, as its right eye houses the power reserve. It is indicated through a play of translucent inserts in subtly graduated shades. The eye darkens as the power reserve runs down, at the end of its 65-hour autonomy. This way of reading the power reserve is, to my knowledge, unprecedented.

The left eye …

A discreet continuously rotating disc indicates the seconds in the left eye. You, the observer, will feel observed as you watch the seconds go by.

The case

The 51 mm case (17.9 mm thick) features a single pusher between 2 and 3 o’clock. It comes in a DLC titanium version and another in 5N rose gold and black DLC titanium, with brushed, microblasted and polished finishes on both versions.

It offers 5 ATM water resistance.

Movement

The hand-wound mechanical movement beats at 28,800 vph (4 Hz) and is composed of 35 jewels. The bridges, visible through the transparent caseback, are hand-bevelled and decorated with Geneva stripes. The bellows that drive the liquid are rhodium-plated.

Each version (Green Eye and Red Eye) is available in 25 pieces.

The price is on request but should be around €50,000.