The avant garde watchmaker’s latest timepiece is equipped with an entirely mechanical light source, allowing the watch to light up without a battery.

HYT’s timepieces have always been a bit of an “unknown quantity”, and the brand prefers it that way. After all, the company is known for its incorporation of fluid capillaries to tell the time, which is not exactly rooted in traditional Swiss watchmaking.

So when HYT released its latest timepiece – the H4 Neo – the only known quantity that traditional watch enthusiasts could hang on to was the fact that the Neo does indeed tell the time.

Of course, the way it tells the time is a bit different, once again relying on a system of reservoirs, pistons, and bellows to pump a liquid through a capillary. Two liquids, one transparent and the other coloured green with a highly resistant dye, provide the contrast needed to indicate the time.

The Neo is part of the brand’s H4 collection, which was first released in 2015. The H4 can be considered as the bigger brother to the original H1, coming to market with a relatively large 51mm diameter case.

The 15 piece limited edition watch is also powered by an HYT exclusive hand-wound calibre that delivers 65 hours of power reserve at a high beat frequency of 28,800 VpH.

What makes the Neo, and indeed the H4 collection, stand out is that it’s equipped with its own light source. More precisely, the engineers have concealed two purple LEDs under the charcoal grey titanium dome at 6 o’clock, as part of a supplementary mechanical module operated through the crown at 4:30 o’clock.

Once activated, its micro generator powers the LEDs, which flood the entire dial with fluorescent light without the need for an external energy source or a battery to power it.

This effect is especially impressive at night, when the brightly colored fluid and the transparent composite dial loaded with fluorescent nano particles are energized. This light reaches every crevice of the mechanism, which brings the skeleton architecture of the watch to life.