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Picture Italy’s Amalfi coast, with its pastel-hued villas built into its rugged shoreline cliffs and multi-hued parasols glittering amongst the golden sands. The scene is as romantic as they come and made only more so when navigating the coastline from behind the wheel of a classic car, wooden-hulled speedboat, or vintage seaplane. Dutch watchmakers De Rijke & Co. bring the experience of navigating one of the world’s most picturesque shorelines to your wrist with a new, limited release within the Amalfi Series – Land, Sea, and Air.  Each watch is crafted within De Rijke’s Dordrecht atelier and features dials designed by renowned illustrator Guy Allen and executed in grand feu enamel.

The Netherlands has a rich history in art and design and has honed its own unique approach to horology. Among its famed designers is De Rijke & Co.’s founder and namesake, Laurens de Rijke. With a background in automotive design and restoration, and a love of vehicles, travel, and watches, de Rijke decided to combine his passions by developing a mechanical driver’s watch. Working with Dutch designer Bruno Ninaber van Eyben to learn the craft of watchmaking, de Rijke brought his vision to life, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Located a short boat ride down the Oude Maas from Rotterdam, De Rijke & Co.’s small atelier is based out of the historic port city of Dordrecht. Surrounded by shipbuilders and manufacturers of all stripes, Atelier De Rijke fits right in among its creative neighbors, designing and manufacturing nearly all the parts of its watches within its workshop.

The first series of watches released by De Rijke & Co. was a driver’s watch named for the picturesque Italian Amalfi coastline. The Amalfi Series features a novel case design that lets the user rotate the case up to 90 degrees, allowing a driver a clear view of the time while their hands are gripped on the wheel, navigating the twists and turns of the blacktop. De Rijke & Co. also created a specially designed lug system and strap for the Amalfi Series to allow the watch to be worn atop a jacket or shirt for chilly days on the road.

To create this specialized driver’s watch, the Amalfi Series’ 38.2mm stainless-steel case utilizes a two-piece construction that allows the inner case to rotate within the outer lug case. The lug case features ribbing along the edge that, when coupled with a small spring, allows the user to rotate the dial into position with a series of firm, positive clicks and ensures that the dial stays right where the user wants it. Despite the complexity of the case, the Amalfi Series remains slim at only 11mm in thickness.

For the limited Amalfi Series – Land, Sea, and Air editions, De Rijke & Co. partnered with legendary freelance illustrator Guy Allen. For over two decades, Allen has specialized in automotive and horological illustration, working for clients such as Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, and Phillips Fine Watches. De Rijke & Co. originally commissioned Allen to create a series of illustrations to capture the spirit of the Amalfi Series — gentlemen’s driver’s watches that look and feel at home at the steering wheel of a classic car. The relationship has evolved over the years, eventually culminating in the newest series of watches, with illustrations on the dial that evoke the nostalgia and feel of classic cars, boats, and planes.

The dial illustrations feature some of the most iconic classic vehicles of the past century, all of which bear a fitting connection to the Italian coast for which the series is named. The Land dial features the effortless elegance of a 1950s Italian GT, while the Sea shows a timeless wooden-hulled speedboat, and the Air features the legendary Macchi Castoldi M.C 72 Seaplane. The themes of Land, Sea, and Air carry over beyond the dial and onto the engraved casebacks and details along the case sides that are only revealed when the dial is rotated.

To bring Allen’s illustrations to life on the dial, De Rijke & Co. opted for champlevé enamel dials. This enameling process is incredibly time and skill-intensive. First, solid silver dials are etched, then Grand feu enamel is applied by hand and fired at a high temperature, with even the smallest deviations in temperature or technique resulting in failure. To ensure the highest possible quality, De Rijke & Co. has partnered with an expert craftsman in the UK. Once the dials are complete, the time-consuming process of hand-finishing and assembly is completed at the De Rijke atelier.

The Amalfi Series is powered by the ever-reliable Top Grade Sellita SW300 automatic movement, featuring 25 jewels, hacking seconds, and beating at 28.8kbph. Each watch comes equipped with a custom 18mm leather strap with tool-free quick-release.

Each design in the Amalfi Series is limited to only 25 pieces, with a retail price of €3,395 (ex VAT), and each is individually engraved with an edition number and comes with a standard 2-year warranty. To learn more about De Rijke & Co. and the Amalfi Series – Land, Sea, and Air, please visit the De Rijke & Co. website.