Introducing the Limited-Edition HYT Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires Watch

One of the most important challenges watchmakers face is dealing with the effect gravity has on movements. A tourbillon acts as a counterbalance to drag that effect when a watch is held in certain positions. Successfully dealing with such a challenge, HYT has now unveiled a new eight-piece, limited-edition HYT Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires (Ref. H03131-A) watch that combines animations and the complexity of a conical tourbillon with the exclusive mechanical fluidic technology.

Independent watchmaker HYT has been the foremost creator of the neon fluids that are pumped around the dial to indicate the hours. The manufacturer has now unveiled a new model that is animated by a conical tourbillon, created by clockmaker Eric Coudray, which rises above the spectacle of the retrograde fluid hours to perform its 30-second rotations, placed at 6 o’clock; it is accompanied by an unusual ‘chaotic animation’, represented by three rotating spheres. The spiral balance is inclined at 30 degrees to the horizontal, its escapement wheel at 15 degrees, and an anchor at 23 degrees. 

The new 48 mm gold watch gets a black-coated titanium case and crown, and gold and black-coated side grids. Around the periphery, there are three exceptional faceted sapphires, each 2.5 mm in diameter. The distinctly coloured gems – fuchsia, blue-grey, and yellow – rotate at different speeds. The fuchsia gem completes four revolutions per minute (rpm). The second or the blue-grey one rotates at 5 rpm and the yellow one at 6 rpm. Each of these spheres is tracked by a counterweight, which is of a distinctive colour and finely finished in miniature paint.

To elevate the tourbillon for a better visual impact, six smaller sapphires are set in its brackets, where the tourbillon cage is made of titanium. The black fluidic hour module, the HYT hallmark, naturally finds its place in this exceptional tourbillon movement. The mechanism is a signature retrograde indication of the hours, which is represented by a black liquid inside a borosilicate capillary tube. The left bellow pushes the black fluid while the right bellow pushes the transparent liquid; when the two fluids meet, the current time is noted.

The black-coated brass dial gets 3D black-coated minute markers, beige luminescent hour markers, an HYT logo at 6 o’clock, and central black matte minutes hands, white SLN coating. The outer periphery of the watch on which the hour marker sits gets a honeycomb texture. Powering the watch is the 701-TC movement with a winder tool, which delivers a power reserve of minimum 40 hours. The latter gets a black, silver, and gold coating. 

The HYT Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires watch is available in eight variations – the seven remaining Conical Tourbillon Infinity Sapphires watches offer infinite freedom in the choice of sapphires. The watches are finished on black rubber straps with the options of brown leather embossed straps decorated with brown stitching and black pin-buckles, coated with titanium and sporting satin and sandblasted finishes.