Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Antoine Griezmann spotted wearing Hyt

Antoine Griezmann was photographed wearing the HYT H1 Titanium Black DLC, reference 148-DL-21-GF-RU — a watch that dispenses with conventional hand-based timekeeping entirely in favour of pressurised fluid mechanics. For a footballer known for his flair and individuality on the pitch, the choice is entirely coherent.

HYT — Hydro Mechanical Horologists — introduced the H1 in 2012 as a genuine engineering disruption. The case of reference 148-DL-21-GF-RU is machined from grade-5 titanium and finished with a Diamond-Like Carbon coating that gives it a uniform, light-absorbing black appearance and exceptional scratch resistance. The watch measures 48.8mm across and 17.9mm in height, making it a substantial wrist presence, but the titanium substrate keeps weight manageable despite those dimensions. Water resistance is rated to 50 metres.

The movement inside is the calibre HYT 101, a manually wound mechanism developed in collaboration with Chronode. It runs at 21,600 vph with a 65-hour power reserve delivered across twin barrels. Those barrels do double duty: they power the conventional retrograde minutes display at 12 o'clock while simultaneously driving a pair of bellows that push the iconic twin-fluid system — one fluid yellow-green and fluorescent, the other clear — through a curved capillary tube around the lower half of the dial. The meniscus between the two liquids marks the hour position with startling legibility. At 6 o'clock the fluid retracts rapidly back to the start position, completing the retrograde cycle.

In collector circles the H1 occupies a singular position. HYT is a small, Neuchâtel-based manufacture that has never chased volume, and the H1 in Black DLC titanium represents one of the cleaner, more wearable expressions of their catalogue — less maximalist than later H2 and H3 references, which perhaps makes it the more considered buy. The brand's ongoing financial restructuring through the mid-2020s has added a layer of scarcity to existing inventory.

Griezmann has previously been spotted in Richard Mille and other technically ambitious references, so the HYT H1 Ref. 148-DL-21-GF-RU reads as a natural extension of his collecting philosophy. UK list price was £35,000 at time of release; grey-market values have softened given HYT's corporate turbulence, presenting an unusual entry point for a watch that remains mechanically unlike anything else in production.