The New HYT Hastroid Rainbow

For over a year now, HYT has been back in action with its creativity and boldness revived. The return of the brand was marked by the Hastroid, a watch with familiar mechanics and, of course, the signature – and industry unique – fluidic indication of the time. Besides the obvious sci-fi inspiration behind the design of the most recent creations of HYT, the use of bright colours is another trait of the brand’s DNA. But today, it goes a few steps further in colouring time and features a rainbow radiating its colours on the Hastroid… But it’s not about setting coloured stones on the case or dial.

The new HYT Hastroid Rainbow is a familiar watch when it comes to its specifications. Overall, it comes with all the features of the existing Green Nebula, Supernova Blue or Cosmic Hunter models. So let’s rewind briefly and speak about the watch itself. The Hastroid was a turning point in the brand’s history, marking a new start with its redefined design. The case, still on the large side, was entirely novel and designed like a spaceship. Big, bright and bold, I said in my first article. Angular, layered, and relatively aerial with an openworked and architectural construction, it mixes materials. Measuring 48 mm in diameter and over 17mm in thickness, it has a length of 52mm. And it is surprisingly more comfortable than expected. The case’s multi-layer “sandwich-like” construction also integrates cut-out areas on the sides with grilles.

The dial and display have also been redefined with more depth and a complex multi-part structure. Composed of 43 components, the dial has an openworked, textured structure revealing most of the mechanical elements, and both the mechanical section (on top) and the fluidic section (the bellows on the lower part and the capillary tube around the dial) are entirely visible. A black-coated plate frames the movement with a grid pattern, on which bold Arabic numerals in 3D are applied. The display consists of a central minute hand, a small seconds and a power reserve. And, of course, the main attraction, the retrograde fluidic indication of the hours. Still powered by two bellows, the left-side bellow/piston module pushes the coloured fluid into the capillary tube, and as time passes, it pushes the transparent fluid into the right-side bellow.

Powering our HYT Hastroid Green Nebula is the calibre HYT 501-CM, using the same base as the H5, refined for the HYT Hastroid. Made of two separate modules connected by a lever, the upper side is dedicated to timekeeping and is a hand-wound movement running at 4Hz with a power reserve of 72 hours. It is also the driving force for the fluidic indication, giving its power and delivering a constant displacement to act on the motion of the fluids, thanks to an oversized lever and a curved feeler-spindle. This sensor transforms the circular motion of the movement’s wheels into a linear motion that pushes the bellow.

Now, what about this new HYT Hastroid Rainbow? Well, it’s all about the use of multiple colours on the dial. The case is made from multi-layer carbon fibre with a profile in matte black DLC-coated titanium. It is worn on a bright, bold purple rubber strap with black inlay. The rainbow effect is applied to the dial’s grille using tinted Zapon lacquer – a premium single-component lacquer mainly used to provide long-term protection for dials which have undergone a galvanic treatment. Each dial is individually executed by Yan Patriarca, a lacquering expert. Each colour is sprayed by hand, in several layers, and with an imperceptible gradient effect. In addition, the fluid contained in the capillary tube is black, and when it moves around the coloured dial, it gives the impression that it is tinted in the shade assigned to each time slot.

The HYT Hastroid Rainbow is released as a limited edition of 15 pieces and priced at CHF 75,000 (excl. taxes). For more details, please visit www.hytwatches.com.