The watchmakers plan to attract a wide audience to their brainchild with entry-level prices.

Brothers Bartholomeus "Bart" Albertus Johannes and Tim Lambertus Joseph Grönefeld are two of the pioneers behind the current surge in the popularity of indie brands.

They've implemented all of the stages involved in developing a brand — from gradually winning the hearts of collectors and social media marketing to securing commissions thanks to their repeat triumphs at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), which Grönefeld has taken by storm.

The watchmaking brothers won the Tourbillon Watch Prize with their Parallax Flying Tourbillon in 2014, then their 1941 Remontoire was awarded the Men's Watch Prize in 2016, and the 1941 Grönograaf won the Chronograph Watch Prize in 2022.

This fall, the veteran indie watchmakers announced the launch of a new, more affordable brand for watch fans. It'll be interesting to see if any others will follow. The new brand is called Grøne Oldenzaal and highlights the brothers' hometown Oldenzaal — a city in the Netherlands.

The brothers love their native city so much that they even bought the building constructed in 1886 where they went to school to use as their watch workshop. An old map of their beloved hometown is depicted directly on the solid caseback of the brand's first model: the Manueel One "Sjef’s One".

In case anyone is still questioning the brothers' patriotism, a Dutch saying is also engraved around the edge: "Zoals het klokje thuis tikt, tikt het nergens", which translates to "As the clock ticks at home — it ticks the best." The "Sjef’s One" pays tribute to the brothers' father, Johannes Sjef Grönefeld.

Achieving the desired price of EUR 2,150 excluding VAT came at the sacrifice of a complicated in-house movement, flawlessly finished by hand. So the manually wound Sellita SW210 with a 42-hour power reserve was chosen as the movement to be housed in the first Grøne Oldenzaal.

The use of a solid caseback clearly reduces the need for finishing. The watch's salmon-colored dial center is encircled by a brushed two-step chapter ring with a blue minute track around the outer edge and a wider section for the polished hour indexes.

The dial center has been given a finish reminiscent of tremblage but has probably been stamped rather than rendered by hand.  Its steel case measures 38.5 mm in diameter and 10 mm in height.