Participate in ELMS in HYT watch competition and Panis-Barthez competition

Cars and watches… This is always a valid combination, it’s that simple! The two worlds have many things in common: precision machinery manufacturing, passionate fans, reputation of boy toys… Such partnerships can range from classic cars to luxury supercars, and sometimes to racing cars. As far as HYT luxury watches are concerned, the latter is a natural choice. Both worlds are committed to performance, innovation and the use of materials worthy of the spacecraft. Today, we will share our experience with you in the ELMS competition in Estoril, together with HYT watches and the brand’s newest sports partner, Panis-Barthez Competition.

The game, the Penis-Butters game and the smell of oil and gasoline…
If you read Monochrome on a regular basis, you may have realized that a pretty crazy, bold and unique market brand HYT Watches. This young movement plays a role in technology. It indicates the time through a fluid-driven device (what is the liquid in the watch??, see here). The shape of this movement is unparalleled in the industry , And adopted innovative technology. , Ultra light and ultra technical materials.

Now for such a futuristic company, you can hardly imagine a partnership with an old-fashioned brand like Rolls-Royce or Morgan. This is all due to these two outstanding brands, but they are not in line with HYT Watches The rebellious behavior of his team is the same rebellious person. No, HYT needs something different, something more technical, younger, and more athletic. The answer comes from the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and a new team Panis-Barthez Competition.

The Panis-Barthez competition was created at the end of 2015 to participate in the 2016 ELMS season. Now, I’m pretty sure that most of us already know the famous Le Mans 24 Hours, but it’s just a race, it’s part of a bigger championship and there are many other races. The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) is a European racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans and operated by the Eastern Automobile Club (ACO). Several different races were held during ELMS at the same time, including ultra-fast LMP2 prototypes, single-type LMP3 prototypes and several GT cars (professionals or amateurs).

The Panis-Barthez competition is named after its founder, two symbols of French elite sports. Olivier Panis was the last Frenchman to win the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, and Fabien Barthez was the only and only one to lead the French football team to the 1998 Goalkeeper for the World Championship title and the 2000 European Union Championship title, and later became a racer and team manager. The team competes in the ELMS category, with two cars, one in LMP2 and one in LMP3.

How about the competition… In today’s era of environmental awareness and fuel reduction, this led to the birth of Formula-E (Electric Formula-E racing car)-to hear the powerful engine scream, smell the smell of oil, this is indeed a Kind of happy experience. And gasoline, feel this unique atmosphere in the game. Sorry to those who are keen on the environment, but there is nothing like watching a 750hp prototype running at a speed of 280 km/h on the track… The race we were invited to participate in is the last episode of the season, in Estoril (near Lisbon) The track, Portugal) and lasted 4 hours. In addition to having the opportunity to aaa quality watches sale the game from inside the pit lane, we also had the opportunity to experience the preparation and explanation of the Panis-Barthez game before the game started.

What about HYT watches?
This is a good question. What does HYT watch do in this racing world? To be fair, most luxury watch brands use sponsorship agreements as promotional tools. This is not surprising. Similarly, the cooperation with Panis-Barthez Competition is not the first partner of the brand. We have introduced you to the sponsors of RC44 and Alinghi, which have developed specific watches for this purpose. Both of these partnerships are related to the world of sailing, and at first glance they seem to be far from the concept behind HYT-although they have been explained and discussed, they are meaningful. However, in terms of racing, the contact with the hydromechanical watchmaker is clearly listed.

As we have seen, the world of automobiles and motorsports is a densely populated world among watch brands and manufacturers, each of which has its own special “relationship”. But when it comes to HYT, the connection is very obvious. Panis-Barthez Competition racing cars and HYT watches have a lot in common, and may actually be more than many simple chronographs used for timekeeping. Of course, the HYT watch will not be used as an official chronograph for the game (it was not equipped with a chronograph at the beginning), but if you look at the really important things, such as the design and the use of advanced technology, you will quickly discover deep links.

HYT watches are all based on the same technology: capillaries filled with 2 liquids (one color, one transparent), they indicate the number of hours on the contrary-check H1, H2, H3, H4 or Skull to understand what I mean. To achieve this unique display function, two huge bellows push the liquid to rotate with one hand like a standard movement. These two bellows/pistons, proudly exposed on the front of the watch, form a visual connection with the racing car. The movement looks like a racing engine, with a combination of exposed mechanical elements and the fact that it runs on fluids, just like the engine uses petroleum and gasoline. Therefore, there may be no connection in terms of complexity or functionality, but visually speaking, it is difficult to make a timepiece that is so similar to an engine. To me, this is like a definite partnership.

Then, there are materials. As you can see, a racing car such as LMP2 is a very complex machine that combines titanium, magnesium and carbon fiber. In fact, the same is true for HYT watches. For example, look at the combination of titanium and coated parts on H1. Even better, while exploring the car in detail, I noticed something amazing. The shell of HYT H4 is made of the same TMTP carbon fiber as the brake shoes of Panis-Barthez Competition’s LMP2 car. Again, this is an unexpected close connection.

Finally, there is a human story behind this partnership. Both parties agree on common values… even if it is difficult to explain, it is very pleasant. Two young teams, two hopes for better, more efficient, more obvious wishes, and two separate visions… So, will we soon see HYT inspired by racing? Indeed, the brand is actually producing the Panis-Barthez Competition, which will be released at the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours. The only thing we know is that it will not be another chronograph like most brands!

HYT H2 Tradition – Hydraulic mechanical watchmaker (a bit) retro

After reviewing their watches a few times, you should know what HYT is, and the timepieces they produce are highly technical, bold and modern. Whether we talk about H1, H2, H3 or H4, they are far from retro-oriented, traditional or retro. Recently, we have seen the evolution of several versions of Hydro Mechanical Horologists (people at HYT like to call them), such as the implementation of the lighting system (mechanical drive) in the pilot H2 or H4. Participating in SIHH for the first time (entering “Carrédes Horologers”, as well as 8 other independent brands), HYT made a U-turn and took a more traditional view of H2…and made some adjustments to the movement and display. Let’s take a look at the HYT H2 tradition.

Take a look at the second watch created by the brand, HYT H2, which has a typical V-shaped bellows and a completely hollow movement, which can be seen from the front. I dare someone call it “classic” or “traditional”. Maybe 20 years from now, after major brands have changed the style to a similar style, we will call it a classic watch… but I doubt it. So, what is the traditional purpose of HYT H2? As (more) classic watches. Therefore, should we expect this novelty to be just another manual display? No, HYT H2 Tradition is still HYT, which means that the display relies on the liquid inserted in the capillary to indicate the hours (just like every watch of the brand). So what is the classic of this watch? Certain visual elements rely on traditional watchmaking rules.

Compared with ordinary H2, what changes does HYT H2 tradition have? This is not the case, it is still 48.8 mm made of titanium with a light anthracite gray PVD coating on the central container. The display and use of two liquids filled with bellows and capillary? Nothing. These typical HYT elements still exist. In fact, two main points or evolutions can be seen: the completion of the movement and dial, and the display and location of certain technical elements.

The first thing to note is the existence of the small dial. Previously, HYT H2 only featured the central hand adjacent to the liquid submission tube showing minutes, via the sapphire ring-see here for details. With the HYT H2 tradition, the brand can be traced back to something more classic, including two small dials, one minute and one minute and second-a bit like in H1, which initially made me feel like I was in front of the new H1 instead of H2.

However, this new display is not the movement itself. To make room for these new timing functions, the balance wheel (previously at 12) has been re-centered. This transformation means that most of the movement’s design must be overhauled (especially the gear train must be redesigned), which was taken by HYT’s partner APRP (the designer of the HYT H2 movement, Audemars-Piguet Renaud-Papi) step. . For the rest, the movement remains technically the same, whether it is a pure clock part (with 8 days power reserve and clockwork position indication), or a fluid part.

The final evolution of the HYT H2 tradition is execution. Although the normal H2 function is sandblasted and blackened (an obvious choice is a modern, bold watch), this new classic iteration uses the characteristics of watchmaking tradition: 4N gold processing, Roman numerals and blue steel hand indications Lacquered dial. Then, both the dial side and the main board on the movement side are decorated with diamond guilloche patterns. The rest of the movement is still impressive and finished to a high standard.

Now is the question of interest in this iteration. Is the traditional appearance of HYT H2 good? Is it mainly related to HYT H2 tradition? To be honest, after hands-on operation, you must wear the watch on your wrist to answer this question. The main point of the HYT watch is its extremely technical and almost industrial appearance and surface treatment, which is related to the overall feel of a chronograph (rather than a suitable Review copy watch). With these new features (more traditional display effects and retro classic decorations), we began to think that HYT H2 has become a bit busy and thus lost its boldness.