Get started with HYT H1 watch
During the press conference, HYT was crowded. Many people go to listen to Vincent Perriard discuss the internal workings of H1, this is his new brand HYT new watch. After being teased for a few months and then making its debut recently, HYT is a high-end geek watch designed to combine traditional mechanical watches and liquids. H1 is the first version of the brand, and more liquid-themed watches will be launched in the future. After the meeting, I interviewed Periyad and got a special hands-on appearance and demonstration from his own new watch.
If you understand Perriard’s past work, you will be familiar with his passion and design decisions. Futurism and “doing things in a different way” are factors that help motivate him. He speaks very fast in French when explaining watches, and shares the same level of insight and enthusiasm in English when showing off his toys. H1 is a very cool and unnecessary watch-in this industry, the exact formula for the success of the watch is this level. When I made my debut to the world, I first reported on HYT H1 here.
My own experience of H1 almost met my expectations-it’s good. A bold futuristic design, big on the wrist, but still very wearable. The case is 48.8 mm wide and 17.8 mm thick. With lifting ears, it fits most wrists well. You can’t help but notice the two bellows in the movement and the glowing green liquid ring used to indicate the hours. The concept execution seems flawless, especially when you adjust the number of hours back and forth and the green mucus quickly moves around the scale. It basically uses pressure, but as far as I know, I have never used a crown to do such a thing-maybe not on such a small scale.
The piece we are examining is a titanium alloy coated with black DLC. There are uncoated titanium versions, as well as full 18k rose gold and 18k rose gold mixed black versions. These four models will launch the brand, and will apparently sell their first few batches to retailers who will sell HYT fake watches around the world.
As I mentioned, Perriard likes to make high-end toys. This is how H1 feels. It’s like a smart kid can dream. This is also something that a grown up child will be happy to wear. It takes a lot of technical expertise to fully understand the role of the movement, but almost anyone can enjoy the concept in practice. I think Perriard knows this concept best-if you want a successful new watch brand to sell high-priced goods, it needs to be something that can surprise ordinary people.
The dial has a retrograde liquid indicator for hours and a dial for minutes-both are easy to read. There is an auxiliary seconds counter and a useful power reserve indicator for the manual winding movement. Perriard turned to the back of the watch and explained how he wanted to complete and decorate the movement in a relatively classic way—not to potentially alienate the core consumer watch lovers. The cheeky accordion bellows on the dial is something you have never seen on the dial before. Such iconic elements will surely become the logo of the brand.
For most people, the price is still completely impossible, but it does provide a better opportunity for the rich to own and enjoy extremely exotic watches. Like everyone else, I am enjoying the style and composure and technological innovation provided by H1. Perriard promises that the future will become more and more complex, so I expect the H1 to become their entry-level model in the next few years. Usually, brands like this start with ultra-high flagship models, but for HYT, getting the right technology may be the most important thing. I really like what they are doing, and CEO Perriard’s passion for the product has undoubtedly made the transaction sweeter.