1969 DeltaWorks Is Grönefeld’s Sportiest Watch to Date

In addition to tulips, the Netherlands is famous for the immense feats of engineering that keep it safe from the North Sea. It’s one of these engineering projects, the Delta Works, that forms the inspiration for Dutch watch brand Grönefeld’s latest timepiece. It’s called the Grönefeld 1969 DeltaWorks and it’s the first sports leisure watch they’ve produced.

The claim that this is the sportiest Grönefeld is supported by a very simple statistic. The 1969 DeltaWorks is the only timepiece they produce with a water resistance rating greater than 30m. Thematically it makes a lot of sense, the Delta Works project increases the flood resistance of the entire Netherlands and so the 100m water resistance of the watch is apt. The case that provides this water resistance is a 44.5mm diameter stainless steel number with caseband inserts in either steel or rubber coated titanium.

The dial has Grönefeld’s signature grained texture with a stepped design in one of three colourways: salmon, black or khaki. It’s super clean and legible as well, with large lumed hour markers and matching lumed hands. The presence of lume is a rarity for the brand and feeds into the concept of this being their most robust, go anywhere timepiece. In fact, with a dial like this and its improved water resistance the Grönefeld 1969 DeltaWorks is only a rotating bezel short of being a desk diver.

Under the surface, and visible through the sapphire exhibition caseback, is the Grönefeld G06 automatic calibre. It has a 56-hour power reserve supplied by a uni-directional rotating rotor that has an openworked design with four spokes leading to an 18k gold segment. The spoked design also improves the watch’s shock resistance, another quality inspired by the protective properties of the Delta Works. While it may only be a time-only watch, the attention to detail and precision is extremely high, making it worthy of the haute horology title.

The 1969 DeltaWorks is presented on an integrated FKM rubber strap with five colours to choose from. There’s black, blue, orange, olive and white. A nice touch is that the rubber shoulders, if you opt for the titanium caseband, are colour matched to the strap for a cohesive appearance.

As Haute Horology specialist, the average price of a Grönefeld watch is well above £100,000, which is something to keep in mind when I say that the 1969 DeltaWorks’ price tag of €49,800 (approx. £43,040) is accessible for the brand. However, while it isn’t a limited edition there’s only limited production available due to Grönefeld’s commitment to handcrafts, meaning if you want one, you’ll have to join the waiting list.