Grönefeld Only Watch: 1941 Eight Seconds Remontoire

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Grönefeld Only Watch front

Grönefeld Only Watch front

On November 9, Christie’s will be auctioning off one-off watches for the Only Watch charity fundraiser for muscular dystrophy. Needless to say there are some truly extraordinary timepieces up for grabs — assuming you have a truly gigantic bank balance. The watch above is the Grönefeld Only Watch. I bring it to your attention to kick off our series on quintessential casebacks. And here it is . . .

Grönefeld Only Watch

Do you need to know the aesthetic inspiration and technical information on the Grönefeld Only Watch in-house caliber to appreciate the beauty indeed the majesty of the mechanism powering this 39.5mm timepiece? You do not. But if you do . . .

The stainless-steel bridges replicate the facades of the Dutch houses, termed ‘bell gables’ and reference the homeland of the Horological Brothers, Bart and Tim.

The bridges are hand-beveled, evincing a brilliant gleam, while the centres deliver a sublime contrast with their micro-blasted surfaces, adorned with relief engraving. The movement includes a balance wheel with white gold timing screws and is equipped with a free-sprung over-coil hairspring with triangular stud.

Gold chatons stand testament to the no-compromise specification of this movement whilst mirror polished screws feature chamfered rims and slots. Numerous surfaces glisten, courtesy of mirror-polishing which has been patiently executed by time-served hands. The inventory of different surface decorations will sate the desires of any purist and include snailed, grained, spotted and frosted surfaces.

A “stock” Grönefeld 1941 Eight Seconds Force RF Remontoire will run you €49,500.00 ($54,892.42) plus tax. The Only Watch version will raise all of that for MD, and the rest. Twice the amount? More? Quite possibly.

Is that tax deductible? If only. But the good news is that 99% of all money raised goes to the charity. How much of their money goes to MD’s overheads is anyone’s guess. But this watch will not be just anyone’s. It will belong to one lucky collector.

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