New brand GR Ø NE and affordable new watch Manueel One
Hugo | 2024-11-12
Nowadays, new brands are a hot topic in the watch industry and the latest example of a trend we have seen in the past few years. GR Ø NE is a new project by Bart and Tim Gr ö nefeld, who are the brothers behind the Gr ö nefeld brand, one of the most acclaimed independent brands in the world. Following projects such as MAD 1 and Kurono Tokyo, the brand's existence aims to enable admirers of high priced independent manufacturers to purchase the brand's aesthetics and perspectives at a more affordable price. The first product of GR Ø NE, Manueel One, has a retail price of only 2150 euros. The retail price starts at around 50000 euros and gradually increases. Their production is also very low, producing less than 100 pieces per year.
According to Bart and Tim, the inspiration for Manueel One came from the desire to bring their watches to "our watchmakers, our children, and our friends". If this feeling sounds familiar, then it is almost identical to the reason behind Max B ü sser's MAD 1 project, which was initially only offered to friends of the brand, including Max and his team's long-term partners. Like MAD 1, Manueel One draws on some of the aesthetics and design principles of the brand's high priced watches, but it does not place as much emphasis on craftsmanship and watchmaking as studio made watches. Of course, this is expected. If someone thinks that Manueel One's order is the perfect finish order on Principia, then they should seriously lower their expectations.
The case lines are clearly inspired by the brands Rementoir and Principia, and are equipped with prominent fan-shaped lugs. The design is actually quite complex, with the bezel arched between the lugs but recessed along the side of the case. The stainless steel case has been polished, with a diameter of 38.5 millimeters and a height of 9 millimeters (excluding sapphire crystal). I think it's worth noting that the Gr ö nefeld brothers attempted to evoke their famous case design in this watch. A simple comparison point is that the Kurono Tokyo watch designed by Hajime Asaoka meticulously evokes the watchmaker's aesthetic on the dial, but the overall case lacks the complexity of his high priced works.
The movement is the manually wound Sellita SW210. Interestingly, the brand claims that the movement has undergone "torque adjustment" to achieve the winding sensation favored by the Gr ö nefeld brothers. Actually, what does this mean? If we don't personally receive the watch, we won't know the answer, but this also represents a slightly different attitude towards this type of watch from other brands entering the affordable audiophile market.
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