Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. HYT Goes Bronze With The New Hastroid Cosmic Hunter (Live Pics & Price)
Sci-fi design meets ancient materials.
From its very first collection, HYT has always been focused on cutting-edge and modernist design combined with a unique, fascinating display relying on a watch’s worst enemy, liquid. Even after the comeback of the brand almost a year ago, this motto has remained true and seen amongst all current collections, whether the classic Hastroid or the more surprising take on the calendar and moon, the Moon Runner. Today, the brand releases a watch that combines the unexpected. Sci-fi design with vintage-looking materials. Meet the new HYT Hastroid Cosmic Hunter.
An autumnal look for such a watch… Yes, that’s quite unexpected indeed. But the reality is there, with a much warmer take on the watch we’ve come to see in neon green or vivid blue tones. And this is exactly what makes the new Hastroid Cosmic Hunter special… this reunion of the genres. Ultra-modern inspirations on one side, a unique and innovative display on another, all of that housed in colours that usually evoke the bronze age (literally) and vintage watches. HYT is bold and creative, and this new model shows it once more.
The base for the Cosmic Hunter is well known, being the Hastroid watch – an instrumental model, which has been at the centre of the brand’s renewal in January. This model stays true to the fundamentals of the brand, with a large architectural case, ultra-futuristic looks and, of course, the use of fluids to indicate the time in a retrograde manner. The design was refreshed, however, with a return to avant-garde, modern, sharp shapes – a spaceship for the wrist. It’s objectively large too, with a 48mm diameter, a 17mm height and a length of 52mm. Surely, it won’t remain unnoticed, but believe us when we say that it’s more wearable than one could expect.
For the occasion of this new Hastroid Cosmic Hunter, the case and dial are dressed in warm, vintage-ish colours. The originality lies in the marriage of carbon and titanium coated in a PVD bronze treatment and a microbead finish. The advantage of this bronze galvanic coating is a vintage hunter look with the surprising lightness of the Hastroid. Also, classic bronze tends to oxidize, turning black or into a verdigris shade. The new Hastroid Cosmic Hunter will maintain its gold-like warm bronze colour over the years, using a stabilising surface treatment. The case itself is a complex module, composed of no fewer than 64 parts, with cutouts and recessed areas showing a grid pattern in black.
The dial of this new Cosmic Hunter follows the same design principles, with a combination of textures and shades. 3D numerals are applied on top of a black grid pattern, the fluidic module operates in black over a bronze-coloured background and many of the movement parts and hands have been coated in either black or bronze. Numerals are done in beige Lumicast, a three-dimensional Superluminova application. And the openworked structure hides nothing, with most of the movement in sight and, of course, the bellows driving the fluids in the capillary tube to indicate the hours.
Reinforcing the warm look, the HYT Hastroid Cosmic Hunter is worn on a black rubber strap with a military green embossed insert in Alcantara. It is closed by a black-coated titanium buckle.
Inside the case is the brand’s proprietary calibre HYT 501-CM, developed with renowned watchmaker Eric Coudray for the H5 and then refined for the occasion of the launch of the Hastroid. Now with central minute, it features a small second and a power reserve. The hand-wound base movement operates at 4Hz and stores up to 72h of energy. The lower part is the driving force for the fluidic indication, giving its power and delivering a constant displacement in order to act on the motion of the fluids. The connection with the fluidic device is made thanks to an oversized lever, a curved feeler-spindle or “sensor” enabling the orchestration of the mechanism, together with an intricately shaped cam with 13 positions to synchronise the hour and minute indications with precision. This sensor transforms the circular motion of the movement’s wheels into a linear motion that pushes the bellow and thus the fluid.
Availability & Price
The new bronze-toned HYT Hastroid Cosmic Hunter is released as a limited edition of 27 pieces. It is priced at CHF 70,000, thus the same price as the classic edition of this watch. For more details, please visit www.hytwatches.com.
