HYT Soonow Instant Rainbow (Live Pics & Price)

With Soonow and its ‘Drop’ collection, HYT reminds us of the transience of time. A rainbow-skull watch, the latest limited edition released by the brand is meant to convey the brand’s unique perspective on time, in particular in relation to recent events and the global lockdown. Exuberant or audacious? You won’t remain neutral about its unique design and its unique way to portray time… but life and time are never black and white. Meet the HYT Soonow Instant Rainbow.

Memento Mori (remember that you must die) is a Latin expression which traces its origins back to Ancient Rome. Depicting skulls and other symbols of the ephemeral nature of life, Memento Mori reminds us of our mortality but also that we are not meant to dwell on death. These are meant to inspire us to live life to the fullest NOW! As such, they carry optimistic, carpe diem messages… Every storm in your life is followed by a rainbow. A timely message as the world has been wrestling with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

At HYT, this ephemeral nature of life and the unstoppable flow of time are also embodied by the unique way its watches tell the time. The temporal tension between the past, the present and the future is portrayed by two immiscible fluids in a capillary to indicate the hours. One liquid represents the past, the other represents the future and the junction of these two indicates the present moment, the ‘now’ and its infinite vanishing. 

When the meniscus separating the liquids gets to 6 pm, it flows back to its original position. In the instance of the HYT Soonow Instant Rainbow, a transparent and blue liquid run on top of a yellow SLN track.

The devil is in the details

Emerging from a black DLC-steel case and protected under an impressive sapphire dome, the HYT Soonow Instant Rainbow skull dial is set with no fewer than 668 carefully selected gemstones, carefully selected multicoloured sapphires, amethysts and tsavorites to complete the rainbow palette. An entire colour spectrum, in 14 different variations of semi-precious stones, are spread around the dial for a radiant and glowing effect. The weight of all this sparkle is a total of 4.73 carats. 

The interior of the skull hosts 313 yellow gold pins hand-inserted on the violet anodized titanium dial. These are mounted in the form of a matrix to create a three-dimensional perspective. It comes with jaws made from 18k yellow gold. The capillary glass features no fewer than 10 angles bent by hand. The opening for the eyes, mouth and nose are highlighted in different Super-LumiNova colours.

The Soonow Instant Rainbow is powered by HYT’s proprietary movement developed with Chronode. Operating at 28,800 vibrations/hour, it delivers 65 hours of power reserve. Visible via the exhibition caseback, it is nicely finished with hand-bevelled bridges and Geneva stripes. This movement works in harmony with the brand’s patented fluidic module. Two multi-layer bellows drive two immiscible fluids in a capillary to indicate the hours. The watch does not display minutes. The liquids flowing in the skull-shaped borosilicate glass tube simply provide an indication of the time and its flow. Other indications are the running seconds in the left eye and the power reserve in the right eye. These are portrayed with ‘HYTnotic’ multicolour concentric patterns.

Price and availability

The HYT Soonow Instant Rainbow is worn on a black rubber strap with folding buckle. Made in a limited edition of only 8 pieces, it will be priced at EUR / USD / CHF 105,000. More details at hytwatches.com.