HYT adds to its Skull range with a 48.8mm iteration of the eye-catching model launched three years ago.
Though usually associated with the afterlife, the pirates’ jolly roger and almost anything out of a horror movie, HYT’s iconoclastic Skull acts as a “memento mori”, according to the first-ever hydromechanical watchmaker. This, the company says, is a symbol and a daily reminder that life is short, and “you must seize every moment”.
Whether you buy into the idea that a constant reminder of your mortal hours ticking away invokes a carpe diem spirit, well, it’s an entirely subjective point. But, whether horrified that you’re looking at a one-day mirror reflection of your cranium on your wrist or you’re filled with burning ambition for the day ahead by glancing at this timepiece, from a purely visual perspective, it is pretty cool.
Since its first release in 2015, The Skull with its fluid time display has been on the edgy side of aesthetic innovation. Now, HYT’s 2018 release takes its daring graphics a step further.
HYT’s outlook is a self-professed philosophical approach to timekeeping. The fluids that drive the time display on the skeletal (not skeletonised) dial are a conscious reference to the first water clocks — the clepsydras of the ancient world: from Babylon and Egypt through to Ancient Greece.
“Without liquid, no life is possible. There would be no timekeeping either […] As a 21st century clepsydra, the HYT is a philosophical instrument. Even more so when it takes the form of a skull with hollow eyes,” the company states in a press release.
“Without liquid, no life is possible. There would be no timekeeping either."
“A watch adorned with a skull. One might think this just another passing trend. But this would be to forget that the watchmakers who created the first portable timepieces, in the sixteenth century, at the height of the artistic genre of ‘memento mori’, immediately recognised the significance of the symbol. Make the most of your time, friends, for life is short.”
The new model Skull-piece’s case is smaller at 48.8mm, down from a rather chucky 51mm, and the central skull has been patinated so it enhances over time.
The timepiece is available in two versions: the first is a 5N pink gold, and the second is a combination of pink gold and black diamond-like carbon (DLC) titanium.
The case for the first version of the Skull 48.8 is made from 5N pink gold, with the hours indicated on the outer bezel. The external dial boasts a magnificent grained effect thanks to its microblasted treatment. It features a matte black alligator leather strap.
A watch adorned with a skull. One might think this just another passing trend.
The second version of the Skull 48.8, made from pink gold (5N) and black DLC titanium, features an external dial treated with anthracite grey galvanised coating. The cognac-coloured patinated leather strap, with a rubber core, comes with a matching cuff.
Both versions are animated by HYT’s exclusive manually wound mechanical calibre, which offers a 65-hour power reserve. Where the hours are indicated on the outer bezel as the liquid fills the outer ring of the watch, the seconds are indicated in the left eye socket of the skull, and the power reserve displayed in the right eye socket.
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