We are writing the grammar of a new design language for the years to come.

THE LAST WORD - Davide Cerrato, HYT's chief executive and creative director

In March 2021, independent watch company HYT announced it had decided to close its operations. Just one year later, HYT was reborn with new investment and under new management: Davide Cerrato, who previously acted as the managing director of Montblanc's watch division, was appointed HYT's chief executive and creative director. WatchTime reached out to Cerrato to talk about his latest career move.

What made you board the HYT spaceship? I'm 52 now, so I have more than 20 years of experience in watchmaking, with big brands and big groups. I think now it's really the moment for freedom. I wanted to have a start-up experience with an independent brand. Deep in my heart I'm a developer, so this thing of taking something small, and even burned, and rebuild the old architecture is something that excites me a lot. And then the creative freedom: When you are in a group, you have zillions of limiting barriers, and politics, and things. And at the end, you spend almost as much time to sell the direction that you created. Now, finally, I can go full speed in creating, and see the result after four months. This brand offers the possibility to express a lot from my past, everything that we lived with, the crazy first robots, and Mangas, and science fiction films, which always fascinated me like crazy.

When did you start with the relaunch? I joined the first of July [2021], but we really set up the team again beginning of September. And four months later, I had the first prototype of the Hastroid on my wrist, which is out of this world.