The Grönograaf 1941, which as its name suggests belongs to the '1941' collection, a tribute to the year of birth of their father, Sjef Grönefeld, an independent watchmaker from whom the two brothers inherited a passion for hands, is basically a traditional model with chronograph split-seconds by means of a column wheel, but incorporates several ingenious and original details.
One only has to glance at the dial to realise this: in addition to the off-centre dial for reading the time at 1 o'clock, the power reserve display at 11 o'clock, the chrono minutes and continuous seconds counters at 6 and 9 o'clock respectively, and the central chrono seconds hand, there is a centrifugal regulator at 4 o'clock (typical of minute repeaters) which acts as a 'soft reset' mechanism for returning the chrono seconds hand to zero, slowing its oscillation: basically, depending on the position of the heart cam to which this hand is connected, the central chrono seconds will slide clockwise or anticlockwise during the reset function. With this solution, the Grönefeld brothers remedy an operation that is not easy since, normally, resetting the chrono seconds hand takes place much more vigorously than one might think, with the risk of the hand itself slipping out of the correct position.
The movement used is the hand-wound calibre G-04, with 408 components, visible in all its beauty through the sapphire crystal on the back: it is equipped with a variable-inertia balance, which mitigates the negative influence due to the positions assumed by the watch during its use and offers superior rate stability. Finally, the Philips balance spring improves isochronism, making the balance spring 'breathe' more concentrically.
The 40 mm Grönograaf 1941 is available in a limited edition in steel of 188 pieces, selling for €155,000 (excluding tax), and in a second edition in tantalum of 25 pieces, selling for €165,000 (excluding tax) and sold out.
