Grone Oldenzaal Manueel One by Bart & Tim Gronefeld
Gronefeld is a consideration in many watch enthusiasts’ dreams. However, getting on their waiting list is worse than Rolex, as monetary help won’t get you in the queue (for normal folks). In addition, the cost of the watches makes it out of the reach of the general consumer. Enter GRØNE.
Grone is presented as the younger Gronefeld. They used to be called “GRØNE Boys” back in their early days. With that, they wanted this brand to reach the younger generations and be more accessible hence the more affordable pricing. With that said, it’s not Gronefeld. As their website states, “GRØNE is distinct and separate from their atelier watch brand Grönefeld”. As to how far the separation is yet to be seen.
The first watch of the brand is the Manueel One – a manual watch.
Case
The case is 38.5mm in size and takes inspiration from the Grönefeld 1941 case first introduced in the award-winning Remontoire and Principia series.
Movement
The movement is a decorated Swiss-made manual winding calibre SW210. One might think it’s a substandard movement, but it is a proven manual-winding workhouse. It’s also been torque-adjusted to a ‘just right’ crown-winding feel that the brothers prefer. The movement is small so there is a movement ring to hold it in place. Some might not like it, but it’s at least a decently decorated metal ring.
Caseback
As the movement is not a see-through caseback like a Gronefeld has, they opted for a solid caseback, albeit engraved. The engraving is an ancient map of Oldenzaal from 1626, with the Grönefeld logo marking the current location of the brothers’ atelier. The miniaturisation of the old map onto metal was incredibly hard to do and had to be redrawn line-by-line to achieve the desired effect the brothers wanted.
Dial
The dial is where it is at. Quoted from the website, “It features a tremblage salmon dial at the centre surrounded by a two-step brushed rhodium-plated dial diamond-cut at every edge. Highly polished diamond-cut batons that serve as hour markers are individually hand-applied with an overhang at the tip that optically floats above the tremblage salmon centre – providing incredible depth and dimensionality to the dial. The applied metallic GRØNE logo has a 3-dimensional effect. The words “Oldenzaal”, ”Manueel” and “Netherlands” are printed coherently with the same vibrant shade of blue as the hands, adding to its charm.”. It also has a sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides.
My thoughts
It definitely is a great looking watch and I think it’s going to sell out pretty quickly. With that said, those who will be purchasing this will not be the younger generations, but either the scalpers or seasoned collectors due to its exclusivity.
I also still believe there’s no need to romanticise and market manual winding with being beautiful and historic that customers will become closer to the watch if they manually wind it everyday. The people who will be purchasing his watch will have other watches in their collections and most likely not be their first.
Order
Follow the instructions in the website, but it is recommended to have an account.
Price and Delivery
The Manueel is priced at 2,150 Euros (excluding VAT/duties/shipping) and is limited to 388 pieces. It will be available for order on 19 November 2024, 3.00PM Amsterdam CET. Deliveries start December 2024.
