Dutch Brands - An introduction to part 1
22nd October 2009
Robert-Jan Broer - www.fratellowatches.com
How about The Netherlands? Dutch horology probably began in the 17th century, when Christiaan Huygens published a book called Horologium in 1658. He invented the pendulum clock, which was considered to be a breakthrough in timekeeping. Christiaan Huygens was the first to apply an anchor escapement, which was a big step in creating accurate movements.
Just a few hundred meters from my house is the residence where Christiaan Huygens lived, it is called Hofwijck. A few hundred meters on the other side of my house, there is a small park with a statue of Christiaan Huygens. I just discovered it by incident, while I was looking for a nice place to have our wedding photographs made. This statue of Christiaan Huygens inspired me to finally write something on Dutch watchmaking.
I am planning to do a multiple article piece on this topic, since there are a few interesting brands to cover. The kick-off will be with Christiaan van der Klaauw. It can't be coincidence that he shares his forename with one of the pioneers of modern watchmaking. Christiaan van der Klaauw is a Frysian watchmaker, that is considered to be one of the first Dutch independent companies on haute horlogerie.
But what about the Grönefeld Exclusive Timepieces, with their very high end GTM06 time piece? Lead by two brothers in a small village in the east part of The Netherlands, near the German border. Bart and Tim Grönefeld got their education at Audemars Piguet and started out as a watch service center, before bringing their dream into reality with their own time piece. The GMT06 is this dream time piece, featuring a tourbillon and minute repeater.
Van der Gang is another Frysian watchmaker from The Netherlands. Creating modern classic watches, in their own high-tech factory in The Netherlands. Van der Gang Watches claim to have high standards for their watchmaking process.
A entirely different Dutch brand, is DMH. Dingemans Mechanische Horloges, try to pronounce that correctly when you are not from The Netherlands or Belgium. There is no high-end factory, or men in white lab suits walking around. Fred Dingemans just uses everything in his power to create a decent watch. By not having an entire factory and staff, he has to make concessions when creating a watch case, dial or hands. However, everything by hand and all for a very decent price.
Also unique is Van Ree Watches. Lead by Daniel van Ree, these mechanical watches carry the DNA of the buyer. DNA is stored in a special compartment in the watch and the code is engraved in the sapphire crystal display back. Besides this gimmick, these watches are built with great care and perfection.
These are the brands that I would like to cover in the next few Chronicles at WorldTempus. Like I wrote earlier, the kick-off will be with Christiaan van der Klaauw, probably the most famous Dutch watchmaker.
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