Antoine Griezmann, the rising French international striker, is considered by his peers to be one of the best centre-forwards in world football. Racing team Panis-Barthez Compétition is represented by Olivier Panis and Fabien Barthez, two legendary sportsmen who have both risen to the top of their fields in careers which span more than two decades. To date, Olivier Panis is still the last French driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix (on the legendary Monaco race track back in 1996); Fabien Barthez is the most successful international goalkeeper in the history of French football, he was crowned best goalkeeper of the tournament in the 1998 World Cup, and then went on to launch his career in motorsport.
These three exceptional men share the same passion for sport, with great humility, integrity, and professionalism: key values in elite sportsmen. Through their passion and performance, these two generations of sporting legends have naturally come to embody the values of HYT.
Two limited editions by luxury watches manufacturer Hyt which are very rare… and highly complementary
The H1 Antoine Griezmann reflects all the qualities of its namesake: sporty, elegant, and technically outstanding. The timepiece is kitted out in white and blue, the athlete’s two favourite colours. The fluid time display system is a nod to his ‘energy gauge’. This limited series of 20 pieces features a central sapphire dial, flanked by a seconds counter and a power reserve with segmented display. The two-tone blue PVD and DLC titanium gives the timepiece a purity which Antoine Griezmann wanted to preserve, which is extended by a white Cordura strap with blue topstiching. The watch features Antoine Griezmann’s logo on its sapphire case-back. The H4 Panis-Barthez Compétition is a high-tech timekeeping instrument which delivers outstanding performance in all environments, both day and night. In this timepiece, a green fluid loaded with fluorescent nanoparticles moves inside a jet black case, framed with a notched bezel in satin-finished titanium. HYT and Panis-Barthez Compétition have designed the centre of the watch to express all the power of the endurance racing world, by picking up the colours of the steering wheels on their cars. The seconds indicator and the power reserve are therefore adorned with blue, red and green. The minute track is topped with a sapphire bridge, over which passes a red hand, guaranteeing the high level of legibility demanded of sports watches. Each bridge on the H4 is cut out to reduce its weight, just like a race car. Finally, in a nod to the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race which runs right through the night, the H4 Panis-Barthez Compétition is fitted with the HYT light module. When the push-button crown at 4:30 marked with the word “Flash” is pressed, the timepiece lights up mechanically, making the fluorescent green fluid which indicates the time glow spectacularly, like a gauge.
Swiss luxury watch company HYT in a few words
HYT’s Hydromechanical Horologists have turned fantasy into reality, mixing mechanics and liquid within a wristwatch. While addicted to non-conformism, these alchemists have drawn upon the strictest codes of fine watchmaking, and shattered them. Fine watch making meets fluid technology. A priori, a utopia. Brushing away all certitudes and all notions of conformism, the core concept that gave birth to the H1 is simple: two flexible reservoirs with a capillary attached at each end. In one, a coloured liquid; in the other, a transparent one. Keeping them apart is the repulsion force of the molecules in each fluid. There are two reservoirs at 06:00 also referred to as bellows. They are made of a highly resistant, flexible alloy. Watchmaking is used to activate the system via a piston that drives the bellow on the left (the active bellow). When the active below is compressed, the second expands, and vice versa, resulting in the movement of the liquids in the capillary. As the hours go by, the coloured liquid advances. The meniscus marks the separation point between the two liquids, indicating the hour. At 18:00, the coloured liquid moves backwards, returning to its original position in what is known as a ‘retrograde’. In 2013, HYT launched its H2 Collection, a new class of time pieces born from a close partnership with Audemars Piguet Renaud Papi and managed under the steady guidance of Giulio Papi. This partnership was renewed in 2015 to continue HYT’s ground-breaking work in fluid technology and also to develop a new collection: the H3 that once again reiterated HYT’s commitment to creating pieces that continuously surprise and challenge at every opportunity. In 2015 two more legendary collections were introduced: the Skull & the H4. The most difficult aspect when creating the Skull was to transform the circular shape of the capillary to give it a skull like appearance. This was due to both the technical and the esthetical constraints of bending a glass tube that measures less than 1 millimeter in diameter. The H4 is equipped with a micro generator that converts mechanical energy into light allowing the wearer to read the time in the dark. A first in the horological industry.
