Grönefeld - 1941 Grönograaf

Dutch watchmaker Grönefeld presented the 1941 Grönograaf, the first chronograph of the brand. Prices: €165,000 in tantalum, € 155,000 in steel

Dutch watch brand Grönefeld has produced a variety of watch complications since 2008, when Bart and Tim established their own company. Also known as ‘The Horological Brothers’, the two watchmakers have created sophisticated models integrating watchmaking feats like tourbillon, minute repeater, remontoire, jumping seconds and others. 

After many years, they have finally presented their first chronograph. And, as you might expect from the talented duo, the new 1941 Grönograaf is not an ordinary one.

In fact, although it is a chronograph developed with a classical configuration featuring column-wheel and lateral coupling, it incorporates several ingenious and original details.

One of these is a ‘soft reset’ mechanism conceived to compensate the harsh forces that can sometimes scar hammers and bend hands of a chronograph movement. Positioned at 4 o’clock, a centrifugal governor similar to those that can be seen on minute repeaters slows down the reset function acting more gently on the components.

The governor includes two solid gold weights. Depending on the position of the heart-shaped cams for the counter hands, the relevant minutes and seconds hands rotate clockwise or counter clockwise.

Beating at 21.600 vibrations per hour, the hand-wound calibre G-04 is comprised of 408 parts and offers a power reserve of 53 hours.

The variable inertia balance mitigates positional influence and offers superior rate stability. The Philips terminal overcoil enhances isochronism, effectively causing the balance spring to breathe more concentrically.

The Haute Horlogerie finishes are outstanding: the mainplate is embellished with spotting, while the bridges are formed of stainless steel, polished by hand. The bridges have micro-blasted centres, circular graining on the top and feature various engravings in relief. The heart-shaped cams, the elongated chronograph bridge, the gold chatons and the screw-heads are embellished with black polishing, performed in the traditional way using diamond paste on a tin plate. 

Housed in the "1941" case that was first introduced in 2016 with the 1941 Remontoire, thus named after the year their father Sjef was born, the new Grönograaf measures 40 mm in diameter and 11.30 mm of height. 

The ‘Premiere Edition’ of the 1941 Grönograaf will be encased in tantalum and limited to just 25 pieces. More than twice as dense as stainless steel, heavier than palladium and slightly lighter than gold, tantalum is hard, corrosion resistant, bioinert and exhibits a lustrous, blue-grey gleam. 

The tantalum version will be followed by a limited edition of 188 pieces in stainless steel.

Protected by a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides, the dial has a stainless steel base with rhodium plated sub-dials and elements, enhanced by frosted and satin-grained finishes.

The hours and minutes are indicated on an off-centre dial by flame-blued steel hands. At 4 o’clock, we find the centrifugal governor that we described earlier in the article.

The 30-minute counter at the base of the dial features a Breguet-style hand. The instantaneous jumping minutes facilitates ease of read-off. 

A subsidiary seconds display is positioned at 9 o’clock and, just above it,  we find a power reserve indicator equipped with a pointer that conveys the status of the mainspring. 

The central hand in the classical Breguet-style indicates the chronograph seconds on a crisply-marked track positioned on the rehaut.

The Grönefeld 1941 Grönograaf has a price of Euro 165,000 in tantalum and Euro 155,000 in stainless steel. gronefeld.com