Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon Hands-On
Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon
Shortly before Baselworld we were invited to an exclusive sneak preview of the new Grönefeld watches. During a dinner meeting with some (blogger) friends, Bart & Tim Grönefeld would present their new collection. We (sadly) missed out on this opportunity because we were on a business trip to Germany. Shortly before Baselworld we published an article about the new Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon with some stock photos and all technical information. Now it’s time for the live photos.
So one week later we visited our friends at Grönefeld in ‘their’ booth (shared with Stepan Sarpaneva, Kari Voutilainen and Loupe System) in Baselworld to see the new Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon. According to Grönefeld the name “Parallax” is derived from the precision of the readability of the central seconds hand. Therefore the seconds track is lifted from the dial and the seconds-hand just floats over it, leaving minimal space in-between, making it very precise to read the correct timekeeping from any angle. Another feature to get the most accurate time is the stopping of the seconds-hand and tourbillon cage when you push the crown for the set function. The one arm tourbillon cage and seconds hand move parallel. When you push the crown and set the watch to the setting function, the seconds-hand and tourbillon cage continue until they reach the 12 o’clock position where they will both stop. You then set the correct time and after a push of the crown the movement starts running again.
The Parallax tourbillon cage has been raised out of the movement as much as possible for best visibility. To further enhance this it’s been placed inside a polished mirror-like stainless steel surrounding, clearly visible in the photo below. Here you can also see that the balance wheel is at the level of the dial, the arm of the tourbillon cage even sticking out. Somewhat blurry (due to the depth of field) you can also see the minimal distance between seconds-hands and the raised seconds-track. Solid Sterling Silver 925 is used for the dial. Finished with a frosted surface and diamond cut bevels.
Grönefeld is well-known for the high-end finishing of their watch parts by hand like the screws and steel bridges on the image below. Each bridge goes through several treatments until it is finally polished by hand. Polishing stainless steel bridges takes up to 4 times longer than more traditional materials.
Like the One Hertz models, the Grönefeld Parallax features the typical Grönefeld case measuring 43 mm x 12.5 mm.
Functions:
- Small hours and minutes at 1 o’clock
- Tourbillon cage at 7 o’clock
- Large center seconds on a raised seconds dial to minimalize parallax error
- Power Reserve indicator
- Winding – Setting indicator
The Parallax is available in stainless steel, limited to 12 pieces and red-gold, limited to 28 pieces. The Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon price is set to 137.450,- Euro for the gold version. The stainless steel Grönefeld Parallax Tourbillon price is 134.250,- Euro. Prices are excluding VAT.
