*Laurens de Rijke at work behind his '64 Schaublin Lathe.*

Dutch Crafted ®

| 'Crafted'; exercise skill in making (something).

De Rijke & Co. is a dutch based mechanical watch company that crafts elegant mechanical watches for drivers. All our watches go through a long prototype stage of testing and most of the parts are designed, manufactured, finished and assembled in our atelier in the Netherlands. Because of the craftsmansip that is used during the construction of our watches, the use of traditional machines and many hours of finishing by hand, we like to use the word 'crafted'.

Atelier de Rijke

In our small atelier in the city of Dordrecht we do all the necessary things to deliver the high quality we aim for. This starts with the design process which is an iterative process of drawing, engineering and rapid prototyping. A common design process comprises dozens of prototype models before a final design is made. Because we design and manufacture most of the parts in our own atelier we are able to work with very small quantities, this makes sure we always deliver a high quality product and we can offer special orders.

Laurens de Rijke

Laurens de Rijke is a Design Engineer with a passion for classic vehicles, adventure and watches. Wherever possible he wants to combine these passions into an exciting adventure. Driven by these passions he learned how to work with mechanics and he got fascinated by mechanical solutions. He worked for a renowned Vespa and Lancia restoration company and he undertook remarkable journeys. In 2013 he left on his fifty year old Vespa scooter for a trip which took him along the ancient Silk Road, covering a distance of 11.000 kilometer, he past countries like Azerbaijan. Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. During this trip he bought his first mechanical watch on a flea market in Georgia. He used the watch on his Vespa in order to keep track of time. The limitations of this watch fueled the ambition for his next adventure; the development of a mechanical watch for drivers. He devoted his graduation to this project and came in touch with renowned Dutch designer Bruno Ninaber van Eyben. It was Bruno and his Studio that taught Laurens the craft of watch design and making.

Driver Watches

The first series of watches developed by De Rijke & Co. is the Amalfi Series. The Amalfi Series is named after the beautiful winding coast in Italy. It is a series of watches focussed on the gentlemen driver that loves to take his classic car out for a spin in the weekend. The unique construction of this watch makes it better readable while driving because the case can be turned under an angle of up to 90 degrees. With beautiful designed solid lugs and a special strap the watch can also be worn on top of your clothes for even better legibility.