1941 Grönograaf

• Size: 40 mm x 11.3 mm
• Movement: Caliber G-04, Column wheel, instantaneous jumping minutes and a gentle reset to zero mechanism. Ruby jeweled hammer
• Water Resistance: 30 m
• Dial: Stainless steel base with rhodium plated sub-dials and elements, frosted and satin-grained surfaces. Decentral hours and minutes at 1 o’clock. Subdial for seconds at 9 o’clock. Power Reserve indicator at 11 o’clock. Large central seconds counter. 30 minutes counter at 6 o’clock
• Caseback: Flat sapphire crystal on the back with hard anti-reflective coating
• Hands: Extended Lancette hands for hours and minutes. Poised Breguet style chronograph hands. Flame-blued steel and mirror polished centers

Since 2008, Bart and Tim, ‘The Horological Brothers’, have produced a variety of unique mechanisms including a tourbillon minute repeater, a jumping seconds, a flying tourbillon with hacking seconds, etc… Their own unique take on classical watchmaking led to them winning two prestigious GPHG prizes: ‘Best Tourbillon’ for the Parallax model
in 2014 and the ‘Best Men’s Watch’ for the 1941 Remontoire in 2016. 

However, while both brothers have produced a number of different watches endowed with a variety of complications, they had never made a chronograph… until now.

The 1941 Grönograaf is the latest creation to be conceived in Oldenzaal. It is a classical chronograph, but consistent with the Grönefeld ethos, it incorporates several ingenious details.

A purist’s movement
Unlike mass-produced cam-actuated chronographs, the 1941 Grönograaf features a classical configuration, namely a column-wheel and lateral coupling, a combination synonymous with high-end watchmaking. The calibre G-04 is a symphony of 408 parts and a wonderful exemplar of no-compromise watchmaking.

Mindful that chronograph movements are often subject to harsh forces that can sometimes scar hammers and bend hands, The Horological Brothers conceived a less aggressive system, a ‘soft reset’ mechanism. A centrifugal governor, positioned at 4 o’clock, typically seen on minute repeaters, slows down the reset function, thereby proving kinder to components while delivering a fascinating spectacle in the process. 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, heightening the sense of mechanical theatre. The 30-minute counter, located at 6 o’clock, features an instantaneous jumping minutes’. 

The dial – a Dutch masterpiece
The hours and minutes are shown on an off-centre dial, a detail that first appeared on the 1896 One Hertz and later on the Parallax tourbillon. The time is expressed with Lancette hands and the hours are denoted with crisp, trapezoidal indexes. The hands are flame-blued steel, upholding watchmaking tradition, while the centres are mirror
polished.

As stated earlier, the centrifugal governor sits at 4 o’clock. When the reset to zero pusher is pressed, the governor bursts into life, not only serving a functional role but delivering a wonderful animated performance.

A 30-minute counter, located at the base of the dial, features a Breguet-style hand. The instantaneous jumping minutes facilitates ease of read-off. A subsidiary seconds display resides at 9 o’clock, while a power reserve indicator, positioned above, is equipped with a pointer, seemingly floating adjacent a track, conveying the status of the mainspring. The central chronograph seconds hand subscribes to the classical Breguet-style and converses with a crisply-marked track positioned on the rehaut, proclaiming the elapsed seconds in an intelligible format.

Limited to 188 pieces in stainless steel