Independents

Salon Belles Montres 2009: Grönefeld

 

Tim and Bart Grönefeld came for the very first time at Belles Montres this year. It was a great pleasure for me to meet them because I haven't had the opportunity before.

Tim and Bart have a strong experience in complicated watches, having worked at Renaud & Papi after the WOSTEP.

Tim and Bart are now based in Oldenzaal, in the eastern part of the Netherlands.

They decided to create their first watch but of course, this watch had to be original.

The main idea which led to the creation of the GTM-06, the first watch of their collection is to give a very powerful and masculine design to complications (Tourbillon & Minute Repeaters) which are often presented in classic and delicate cases.

It is the reason why the GTM-06 has a strong case with impressive lugs.





But it is not only an aesthetic objective.

The use of Platinum can appear to be a bit strange in this context because its acoustic performances are not the best when compared to other materials. But Platinum, thanks to its weight, reinforces the feeling of strength emanated by the watch.

The case and lugs were also designed to improve the sound quality. A very specific work was made to draw the lugs. The pictures show you very badly  the details behind each lug, like the way the Minute Repeaters slide goes under the lugs.

The caliber is based on a Christophe Claret ebauche. That's a very rare case of a non-finished caliber provided by Claret. The quality of this ebauche added to the work of the Grönefeld brothers came to this interesting result. The quality of the sound was for me excellent even if I heard the watch in a quite noisy place.

You will notice that the Tourbillon is located dial side while the hammers are on a lower level. But the Grönefeld brothers opened the plate of the caliber to make them visible through the dial.

The caliber is beautiful and the engraved part can be personalized.

 

The classic wristshots. The watch is heavy and not suitable for small wrists due to the size of the lugs.

My only concern is the difficulty I had to read the minutes hand. I think a better contrast between the dial and this hand should be better.

Powerful and original, the GTM-06 seduced me even if it is more dedicated to big wrists.

The GTM-06 is available in Platinum (10 watches) and in PG (10 watches).

Please note that the Grönefeld brothers will also open their boutique in Oldenzaal at the end of the year. Brands like Speake-Marin and Sarpaneva will be sold in it.

Fr.Xavier