The Grönefeld 1941 Principia Automatic is the first time-only watch without a complication to have been created by the brothers, and the first automatic watch to be produced. This movement is completed in-house and is not based on any previous work done by the two watchmakers. As with the 1941 Remontoire, the year mentioned as part of the watch’s name is a tribute to the date of birth of Bart and Tim Grönefeld’s father.

The aesthetic of this piece is similar the 1941 Remontoire, as the dial is a vibrant salmon, with applied indexes in a complementary silver. According to the Grönefeld brothers, when they first created their limited-edition parallax tourbillon, they made five pieces in platinum with a salmon dial. They noticed that “the response was amazing, so we already saw that there was a growing appetite for these, quite early on in the current trend of salmon dials, back in 2014.” As such, they decided to integrate it into their upcoming collections.

The automatic calibre is made up of 226 parts and is just as excellently finished as the 1941 Remontoire, with a 22k solid red gold, uni-directional rotor. The movement features over a dozen different finishing techniques, from snailing to frosting. The bridges, shaped like the bell gable roofs of Dutch houses, are fashioned out of steel, which is much more difficult and costly to work with than brass or silver.

If sold within the United Kingdom, this Grönefeld 1941 Principia Automatic will be subject to 20% VAT.

Closer look

This Grönefeld Principia is in very good condition throughout. The case and lugs show virtually no signs of wear. The watch is likely worn on only a handful of occasions. The engravings on the case back are crisp and well defined.

The watch comes with a two-year warranty from A Collected Man, alongside a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.