Step 2 In The New Vision of HYT, the Hastroid Green Laser

As we’ve explained in this article published about 2 months ago, an important new chapter in the story of HYT Watches has just opened. After a complex period, and with a new CEO at its head – an industry veteran known as Davide Cerrato – the brand is back on track and comes with its spacecraft trunk fully loaded with new models, but with the distinctive meca-fluidic technology sound and safe. The name of this new opus in the HYT saga is Hastroid, and following the inaugural edition, the Green Nebula, it’s time for the second chapter to be released. Meet the new HYT Hastroid Green Laser. And indeed, it couldn’t be more green. 

Everything we’ve explained over the past few months is still true for this new model. To make the story short, HYT has always been one of the most fascinating and original brands of the independent watchmaking scene. In addition to creating impressively complex mechanical watches, the brand also infused something quite unique in the industry, and that has to do with science, and the use of fluids. Next to the mechanical driving force of the watch, its mechanical movement, HYT watches present a display that relies on an additional module composed of bellows and a capillary tube in which two non-miscible fluids travel in a retrograde way to indicate the passage of the time, with the point where the two fluids meet representing the current hour. And that has been at the centre of all previous models, even if Cerrato told us that fluids will later be used for more than just the display…

In late 2020, however, the brand had to face some difficulties, but since then, not only is there a new shareholder but there’s also a new CEO, Davide Cerrato (ex-Tudor, ex-Montblanc). And he’s on a (space) mission to bring back the brand to the forefront, with vibrant models, bold design and a whole lot of space inspiration behind them. After all, the brand has always been considered a true UFO of watchmaking.

In January this year, Cerrato presented us its first creation, the HYT Hastroid, in its Green Nebula edition. The overall inspiration goes back to the roots of the company, with a return to avant-garde, modern, sharp shapes. The HYT Hastroid is designed like a spaceship. It’s big, bright and bold. After all, HYT’s crazy fluidic display needs this boldness. The overall design has been entirely redefined with the HYT Hastroid. No more pebble-shaped sapphire crystal. The new watch is more angular, almost square-ish yet the hollowed lugs add a certain aerial feel to this case. It feels very much like a space-related object. It’s large on paper, with a 48mm x 17.90mm case, yet it is a bit friendlier on the wrist than imagined.

New is the HYT Hastroid Green Laser edition. While the first version was already using green as recurring accents all over the watch, this one certainly takes green to another level, with a composite green case that shows random patterns. Certainly not meant to be consensual, this composite material is matched with DLC coated titanium reinforcing the multi-layer “sandwich-like” construction of the case, where one can even spot the grid-like elements on the side – a design cue that runs all around the watch.

The dial of the HYT Hastroid Green Laser is identical in construction to the Nebula, yet it adds even more green to the design. The openworked, textured structure revealing most of the mechanical elements of the watch is kept, so is the hollowed mainplate covered by a sapphire plate. The dial is framed by an hour chapter ring with a green background, a grid element and on top 3D applied numerals equally treated in green. The fluidic section – the bellows on the lower part and the capillary tube around the dial – is entirely visible, and the tube is now filled with black liquid to indicate the hours. The central minute hand is, as you can imagine, also very green.

Powering the fluidic indication (fully explained here) is the 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. It is made of two separate modules connected by a lever. On top is a mechanical engine with a frequency of 4Hz and a power reserve of 72 hours. This mechanical module serves two functions. First, it regulates the time to deliver a precise indication. Second, it is a 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.

Availability & Price

The new HYT Hastroid Green Laser is worn on a black rubber strap with black Alcantara embossed insert with green stitching. It is a limited edition of 27 pieces and is now available from the brand’s website and retailers. It is priced at CHF 75,000. For more details and online orders, please visit www.hytwatches.com.