You may recall that amongst HYT’s ‘revival’ releases last year was the ’Supernova Blue’ Moon Runner.

Using their mecafluidic time telling, it was designed by HYT CEO and creative director Davide Cerrato, using the same basic technology found in every HYT watch for a moonphase complication. The capillary tube contains two fluids, one coloured and one clear, which are composed of substances that naturally repel each other and don’t mix, and which are propelled by a bellows system which moves the fluid around the tube. The expansion and contraction of the bellows are controlled by a cam and lever system. It takes twelve hours for the fluid to go around the dial once, at which point the two bellows are reset and the cycle continues anew.

To cope with temperature changes, one of the bellows has an internal thermal compensation system which expands or contracts as the temperature changes in order to maintain the correct fluid pressure and position of the boundary between the two fluids.

The minutes are read off an outer track on the inner flange of the dial. Two rotating titanium discs, placed concentrically around the centre moon phase display, allow the reading of the date and month via an indicator at six o’clock. The minute hand is integrated beneath these two discs, with a Super-LumiNova® treated triangular tip visible. Both the month and day indicator discs are engraved and also have Super-LumiNova®. The retrograde hours have HYT’s hallmark mecafluidic mechanism and the large moon phase display rises above and dominates the dial.

Now, HYT has launched a new take on the lunar seas with two new limited edition models – the ‘Ghost’ and the ‘Desert’. The Desert features beige pigments for a sand-blasted effect, and the Moon Ghost is said to be inspired by twilight. Measuring 48mm x 52.3mm x 17.2mm, the case is black-coated carbon fibre and sand-blasted titanium for the Desert, and silver and black PVD-treated titanium for the Ghost. It has a domed AR-coated box sapphire crystal and it is water resistant to 30m.

The black coated brass dial is comprised of fifty-eight pieces, with 3D black-coated appliques, 
beige/ sand or silver Super-LumiNova® numerals and black or silver matte minutes hand with Super-LumiNova®. The day of month disc is black matte with beige/ sand or silver. The month disc is black matte with beige/ sand or silver. The all-important moon is white with beige/ sand or silver with micro-painting and Super-LumiNova®. Beige/sand or silver SuperLuminova logo. For the Moon Runner ‘Ghost’ and ‘Desert’, the fluid inside the tube is black.

Its movement is obviously the same manually-wound in-house 601-MO as in the launch model. It beats at 28,800 VPH and has a power reserve of three days. The movement is finely sand-blasted and satin-finished with black coating.

Coming on a black rubber strap with black or beige/ sand microfibre embossed decoration, white or beige/ sand stitching and a black coated or polished titanium pin buckle, the ‘Ghost and ‘Desert’ are limited to fifteen pieces of each, with an RRP of CHF 125,000.

[Photo credit: HYT]

Categories: HYT, Limited Editions, Watch Profile, watches

Tags: moonphase