The New HYT Moon Runner White Neon Glows by Day and Night

Launched in 2012, HYT Watches is the only brand that displays time with fluids. Yes, there have been clepsydras since time immemorial, but HYT’s neon fluids pumped around the dial by bellows to indicate the hours are unique in the watch world. Following a period of dormancy, HYT is back under the direction of Davide Cerrato who has charted an intergalactic trajectory for the brand with new sci-fi-influenced models like the Hastroid and the Moon Runner. Fluids are still used to represent the passing hours, but the complications have doubled and luminescence has been given a starring role. To mark HYT’s 10^th anniversary, the indie Swiss watchmaker is launching a 10-piece edition, the HYT Moon Runner White Neon, which lights up the display of the lunar phases, the satellite day and month indications and fluidic hours with the latest-generation Super-LumiNova.

Light me up, Scotty

The Moon Runner performed its maiden voyage earlier this year in a Supernova Blue edition, offering a kinetic view of space and time. Essentially the same watch, the Moon Runner White Neon glows with a lunar light thanks to the use of a new breed of Super-LumiNova developed by the Swiss lab RC Tritec. Known as TecLight®, this hyper-luminescent hybrid ceramic is used to craft the Moon, the numerals, the minute hand and the inscriptions on the indicators. Even the case middle of the watch is carved in this high-tech material which you can appreciate in our photos revealing the side of the watch. The result is an eerie bluish glow in the dark contrasting with the off-white slightly greenish lunar colour of the watch during the day.

Spaceship

Under the direction of Cerrato, HYT has exchanged the smooth liquid lines of the HYT H5 and adopted the more complex architecture of the early days of HYT with angles, openworked areas and contrasting materials. The 64-part sandwich-style case of Moon Runner White Neon is made from hydrocarbon and TecLight® with a black-coated titanium crown and openworked lugs. With a diameter of 48mm and a length of 52.30mm, the impressive height of 21.80mm includes the domed sapphire crystal needed to accommodate the spherical Moon in the centre of the dial.

Black retrograde hours

The signature retrograde indication of the hours on board the Moon Runner is represented by inky-black liquid. The fluid is pumped around the dial and alights in the proximity of the hour markers crafted from high-tech luminous material. Whether by day or night, the black liquid is perfectly distinguishable in the capillary tube that glows blue in the dark and is white in the light. Most of you are familiar with HYT’s fluidic representation of time. Bellows propel the two immiscible fluids inside a glass capillary; the left below pumps the black liquid along the tube, and the right bellow pumps the transparent fluid. The converging point of the two fluids marks the current time. Somewhat eclipsed by the more complex functions on board, you can catch a glimpse of the bellows at 6 o’clock underneath the layered construction in the centre.

3d Moon

Rising from the centre of the dial like a UFO is HYT’s 3D spherical model of the Moon; one hemisphere is black, and the other is white and emits a blue glow in the dark. Orbiting in the centre of the dial, the phases of the Moon are indicated by a V-shaped arm with a circle that extends from the minute track. Two matte black discs surrounding the Moon indicate the date and month with lumed inscriptions that align at 6 o’clock with the Lumicast marker. Moving one step further towards the periphery is the minute track indicated by an openworked high-tech luminous ceramic arrow-shaped marker.

Engine

Calibre HYT 601-MO, the manual-winding movement powering the functions, was developed by Eric Coudray, the name behind the movement of the H5. With a frequency of 28,800vph, the calibre delivers a power reserve of 72 hours for the retrograde hours, central minutes, day, date and 3D moon phases.

Availability & Price

The HYT Moon Runner White Neon comes with a T-Light rubber strap with a black-coated titanium buckle. This 10th anniversary watch is limited to 10 pieces and retails for CHF 130,000 (excl. tax).

For more information, please consult hytwatches.com.