Bart and Richard de Rijke are two Dutch brothers who founded De Rijke in Amsterdam in 2019. Both were watch enthusiasts rather than industry veterans; the brand's commercial premise was that Dutch watchmaking had rarely been produced at serious enthusiast-grade quality, and that the brothers could fill a niche producing vintage-inspired dress watches with Dutch design sensibility and Swiss Made technical production.
The launch reference was a dress wristwatch with Arabic-numeral dial, clean typography drawing on 1950s-60s Dutch design traditions, and a Swiss Made Sellita automatic base movement. Case sizes were deliberately held to 37-39mm, period-authentic rather than oversized modern proportions. Dial colour options and typography were developed with a specific eye to Dutch modernist design (De Stijl, Bauhaus-influenced post-war Dutch graphic design).
Production is small-batch: each release is typically a few hundred pieces, with new colour variants or complication additions released periodically. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the De Rijke website plus a small network of European specialist retailers. Retail runs from approximately €950 (dress three-hander) to €2,800 (chronograph variant), positioning De Rijke at the accessible mid-market tier of Dutch watchmaking.
The brand has grown steadily since 2019 and has built a distinct enthusiast following in the Benelux region, Germany, and the UK. De Rijke remains wholly family-owned with the two brothers running both design and commercial operations. A third brand-extension line targeting field/sports watches has been signalled for the late 2020s but has not yet launched commercially.
