Grégory Dourde, CEO of HYT Watches and Preciflex
The history of fluidic horology began 3,400 years ago with the clepsydras, or water clocks, of the Pharaohs. These so-called "water thieves" transported water from one container to another to measure elapsed or "stolen" time. This fluidic visualization of the transition of time reappeared in 2012, when HYT Watches introduced a wristwatch incorporating a patented fluidic module and a mechanical watch movement to trigger the fluids propulsion. A colored liquid documents the recent past, a transparent liquid indicates the foreseeable future, and their meniscus (meeting point) is the current time.
Today HYT Watches and Preciflex (its sister company mastering microfluidic technologies) form an ecosystem that unites science, hi-technology, philosophy, art and design. Based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, a multi-disciplinary team makes liquid time real time. At the June 4, 2018, meeting of the Horological Society of New York, Grégory Dourde, CEO of HYT Watches and Preciflex, will retrace the historical origins of the time measurement with fluids and will explain the numerous scientific challenges and the creative solutions that brought this unique horological project to life.
About Grégory Dourde
Grégory Dourde
Grégory Dourde, an engineering graduate from the Ecole National des Ponts & Chaussees (Paris), obtained an MBA from the College des Ingenieurs in 1997. He has worked for major brands, including Cartier, Calvin Klein and the Swatch Group (under Nicolas Hayek Senior). He then founded his own consulting company, working on performance enhancement and development projects for companies operating in the medical, watchmaking and high-tech sectors. His interest in and passion for fields as diverse as the physical sciences, biology, philosophy, plastic arts and music, reveal a desire to nurture and enrich ideas through an interdisciplinary approach.