Showing time differently. No longer as a series of numbers or hands, but as energy in motion, a living boundary between past and future.
It is this unique vision that HYT wanted to embody. And it is thanks to Preciflex's expertise that this ambition has become a reality. Giving shape to the passage of time through a fluid, mastering the most demanding physical laws, required much more than a concept: it required a science of detail, an art of micromechanics, a fine understanding of materials, volumes and their reactions, as well as absolute rigour in thermal management.
Extending an ancestral gesture born more than 3,000 years ago with the clepsydra, Preciflex has enabled us to bring liquid time back to life with 21st-century rigour and precision. Their multidisciplinary team designed a module in which two immiscible liquids flow in a closed capillary. Thanks to rigorous control of pressures, internal surface treatments and geometries, the interface between the two liquids progresses with remarkable precision.
At the heart of this technological feat lies a major challenge: controlling thermal expansion. At this scale, even the slightest temperature variation affects the system's behaviour. To address this, Preciflex has developed an active compensation device based on a micromechanical mechanism that also incorporates a liquid in a miniaturised bellows, designed and manufactured with extreme precision.
To integrate this fluidic system into the very heart of a watch, Preciflex has developed, in collaboration with our watchmakers, a fully mechanical microsystem combining high-precision fluidics and sophisticated micromechanical architecture. Designed to operate continuously under the demanding conditions of wristwatches, this device is based on rigorous control of manufacturing tolerances, down to the micron, and on a choice of materials carefully selected for their stability, repeatability and reliability.
This is where the magic happens: this fluid core, the result of demanding science, has naturally found its place in the refined world of fine watchmaking. Working closely with HYT watchmakers, Preciflex has successfully integrated this innovative mechanism into a traditional watch architecture without compromising on aesthetics, finish or reliability.
The result cannot be read: it must be felt. A coloured border advances slowly, silently, like a breath of air. Time is no longer displayed, it comes to life. Preciflex is the discreet architect of this unique experience. Through its high standards, expertise and vision, the impossible has become tangible.
