Dutch watchmakers and brothers Bart and Tim Gronefeld have announced their first automatically wound timepiece, the 1941 Principia. Pricing, specs and lot of pics of the new Grönefeld 1941 Principiaen
The two talented Dutch watchmakers and brothers Bart and Tim Grönefeld - also known as “The Horological Brothers” - have announced their first automatically wound timepiece, the 1941 Principia.
The 'Principia' name makes reference to the 'Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica’, the celebrated body of work by Sir Isaac Newton formulating the laws of motion and universal gravitation.
In fact, it is gravity that makes the oscillating weight to rotate when the wearer of the watch moves the wrist. This rotation imparts energy to the mainspring, obviating the need for the wearer to wind the watch.
Each version of the 1941 Principia is offered with an array of dials, all crafted in solid sterling silver: turquoise, light blue, rhodium and salmon dials with polished applied baton hour markers or a cream lacquered dial with roman numerals which features the same traditional logotype first used by Bart and Tim's Grandfather, Johan Grönefeld, back in 1912.
The extended Lancette hour and minute hands are flame-blued and include mirror-polished centres. A flame-blued hand with counterweight is also used for the small seconds display at 6 o'clock.
The 1941 Principia is housed in the company's 1941 case characterized by hollowed, concave recesses and convex surfaces (we wrote about the 1941 Remontoire here). Measuring 39.5 mm in diameter, with a restrained height of 10.5mm, it is available in red gold, white gold or stainless steel.
Each lug is retained with two hidden titanium screws, positioned inside the case. The lugs can be detached for remedial polishing or, should they have been subject to excessive trauma, they can be replaced.
Beating at 21.600 vibrations per hour and offering 56 hours of power reserve, the automatic movement of the 1941 Principia is equipped with a 22-karat solid red gold monobloc rotor which turns on a ceramic ball bearing, preventing wear and eliminating the need for lubrication.
The stainless-steel bridges replicate the facades of the Dutch houses, termed 'bell gables', referencing the homeland of the Horological Brothers. The bridges are hand-bevelled with micro-blasted surfaces and relief engraving.
Visible through the sapphire case back, the movement includes a balance wheel, with white gold timing screws, and is equipped with a free-sprung hairspring. The escapement is adjusted to heat-cold, isochronism and six positions.
Each movement is finished and assembled by hand. To emphasize the manual labour a gold plate, engraved with an individual number, is applied to the movement.
Grönefeld offers the possibility to configure your own 1941 Principia Automatic through their website. With 5 dials, 3 case materials and 6 leather straps, 75 different versions of the Principia are possible.
The prices of the Grönefeld 1941 Principia are Euro 29,950 in stainless steel, Euro 37,300 in red gold or Euro 38,750 in white gold. gronefeld.com
The 'Principia' name makes reference to the 'Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica’, the celebrated body of work by Sir Isaac Newton formulating the laws of motion and universal gravitation.
In fact, it is gravity that makes the oscillating weight to rotate when the wearer of the watch moves the wrist. This rotation imparts energy to the mainspring, obviating the need for the wearer to wind the watch.
Each version of the 1941 Principia is offered with an array of dials, all crafted in solid sterling silver: turquoise, light blue, rhodium and salmon dials with polished applied baton hour markers or a cream lacquered dial with roman numerals which features the same traditional logotype first used by Bart and Tim's Grandfather, Johan Grönefeld, back in 1912.
The extended Lancette hour and minute hands are flame-blued and include mirror-polished centres. A flame-blued hand with counterweight is also used for the small seconds display at 6 o'clock.
The 1941 Principia is housed in the company's 1941 case characterized by hollowed, concave recesses and convex surfaces (we wrote about the 1941 Remontoire here). Measuring 39.5 mm in diameter, with a restrained height of 10.5mm, it is available in red gold, white gold or stainless steel.
Each lug is retained with two hidden titanium screws, positioned inside the case. The lugs can be detached for remedial polishing or, should they have been subject to excessive trauma, they can be replaced.
Beating at 21.600 vibrations per hour and offering 56 hours of power reserve, the automatic movement of the 1941 Principia is equipped with a 22-karat solid red gold monobloc rotor which turns on a ceramic ball bearing, preventing wear and eliminating the need for lubrication.
The stainless-steel bridges replicate the facades of the Dutch houses, termed 'bell gables', referencing the homeland of the Horological Brothers. The bridges are hand-bevelled with micro-blasted surfaces and relief engraving.
Visible through the sapphire case back, the movement includes a balance wheel, with white gold timing screws, and is equipped with a free-sprung hairspring. The escapement is adjusted to heat-cold, isochronism and six positions.
Each movement is finished and assembled by hand. To emphasize the manual labour a gold plate, engraved with an individual number, is applied to the movement.
Grönefeld offers the possibility to configure your own 1941 Principia Automatic through their website. With 5 dials, 3 case materials and 6 leather straps, 75 different versions of the Principia are possible.
The prices of the Grönefeld 1941 Principia are Euro 29,950 in stainless steel, Euro 37,300 in red gold or Euro 38,750 in white gold. gronefeld.com
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