Manufactured using real mammoth ivory the HYT Vida is probably the most authentic skull themed watch of our times, and at 51mm, its epic proportions and uncompromising character make this limited edition one of the most over the top wristwatches anywhere.

Like a ghostly apparition, Vida’s skull feature is hand engraved from this rare material in the style common to the Mexican Día de Muertos festival. Its bony head with sunken eye sockets combined with the jaw-like steel bellows, which define HYT’s hydro-mechanical horology give it a superbly macabre effect.

Outstanding in its titanium case, its novelty value belies the technical complexity of its fascinating hand winding calibre, which instead of driving hands, is used to power the big steel bellows, whose mechanical breathing forces the oily black liquid forward and back again around the glass capillary which outlines the skull, passing the hour markers to tell the time in a cryptic, but very cool way.

From each of the beige numerals in the black titanium bezel, a black applied marker extends towards the liquid-filled glass capillary, so that even though there is no minutes function, the time can still be read with a reasonable degree of accuracy, although expecting exact precision is missing the point of this highly individual timepiece. As well as the hours, a rotating disc inside the left eye socket displays the seconds, while adjacent to the right, the power reserve is shown. 

Outstanding in its titanium case, its novelty value belies the technical complexity of its fascinating hand winding calibre, which instead of driving hands, is used to power the big steel bellows, whose mechanical breathing forces the oily black liquid forward and back again around the glass capillary which outlines the skull, passing the hour markers to tell the time in a cryptic, but very clever way.

Throughout, the HYT Skull Vida is finished to the exacting standards of Haute Horlogerie, and the sapphire case back reveals the movement’s stripped back plates, the balance and escapement, along with the barrel and gear train which is compacted into the upper half, to accommodate the pair of rhodium-plated bellows. Fully wound, it is good for 65 hours of power reserve.

In its titanium case, the HYT Skull Vida is a magnificent piece which is cool and eccentric, but it’s probably not for the faint of heart. It is presented on an embroidered beige fabric strap, and it secures with a titanium folding clasp.