Grönefeld – 1941 Remontoire | (PRE-BASEL 2016)

Ever since Bart and Tim Grönefeld were young boys they would frequently play to the sounds of the Saint Plechelmus church (Oldenzaal. Holland) clock movement, close to the location of the company’s watchmaking workshops. This movement has always played an important part in the history of Grönefeld.

Johan Grönefeld, the brother’s grandfather, was responsible for maintaining the church clock. When Johan passed away, this responsibility passed to their father, Sjef.

This 1941 case design, named after the year their father was born, harnesses much craftsmanship and is intended to recognise the positive influence Sjef has had on their lives. The sculpted case is executed with a specially shaped cutter to create its characteristic hollowed, concave recesses and convex surfaces.

The solid Sterling Silver dial features frosted and satin-grained surfaces, augmented with subtly polished edges. Each hour is denoted with an applied index which is faceted and diamond cut, and in the lower portion of the dial features a small seconds display.

To optimize time keeping a small hairspring is wound every 8 seconds to guarantee a constant force for the escapement. A complex satellite gearing mechanism with hypocycloidal gears, twin ball bearings, pinions and jewelled levers, achieve this.

The Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire features a governor to regulate the speed of the remontoire mechanism. Positioned at 9 o’clock it’s designed to mitigate shocks to the gear train from the remontoire mechanism stopping, which rotates every eight seconds.

The time-consuming creation of each movement means that production will be limited to a few Remontoire movements, each with its own unique serial number, offered in a choice of case material and dial variants. For this first edition, Grönefeld offers the new 1941 case in 18-carat white gold.

The Grönefeld – 1941 Remontoire will be produced in a limited edition of 188 pieces, and will cost €.49.500.00