Schaap -/- Citroen – Watch 2016 Event

Last Friday we visited the Watch 2016 event, held by Dutch retailer Schaap -/- Citroen at the Okura hotel in Amsterdam. This event, from Friday 20th of May (VIP evening) till Sunday 22nd of May, is being organized for a couple of years now, showing the SIHH and BaselWorld novelties to those who don’t have access to these Swiss exhibitions.

Brands like A. Lange & Söhne, Baume et Mercier, Breitling, Cartier, Hublot, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Panerai, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Rolex and Zenith for example, show their novelties to the visitors of Watch 2016.

The VIP evening of the Watch 2016 event was meant for some member of the press and for Schaap -/- Citroen’s important clients. During the other two days, the Watch 2016 event was open for all public and specific programs were hosted (lecturers and a watchmaking class). At the Zenith booth, you could have your hair cut or beard trimmed by a professional barber. The relationship between this and the watch brand is that Zenith has a partnership with the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (as presented in Basel). This partnership resulted in the Zenith Heritage Pilot Ton-up. The Gentleman’s Ride is a group of bearded bikers, hence the relationship with the barber at Watch 2016.

The watch brands that were present at Watch 2016 are of course the brands in the portfolio of Schaap -/- Citroen. Although we already saw most of the novelties in Basel and Geneva earlier this year, this time we had the possibility to give them (again) a closer look.

Rolex had the new Daytonas with them, in black and white dial versions, but the watch is not available yet in The Netherlands. Rumor at the event was that the current waitinglist is already estimated at 3 years for this watch. The Daytona-hype is back for sure. Visitors of the Watch 2016 event weren’t allowed to try or touch the new Daytona (we covered the new Daytona here). A missed opportunity and we couldn’t think of a reason for this other than safety. We missed the new Explorer, all other novelties seemed to be there though.

Omega had their new line-up of Speedmaster Master Chronometer Moonphase watches with them, but no “CK2998” limited edition. The Omega Globemaster with annual calendar was also up for display.

Patek Philippe wasn’t able to show any of the novelties and the collection on display mainly consisted of ladies watches. Piaget had their new Emperador Coussin XL 700P with them, a beautiful watch with a highly accurate movement that is similar to the Spring Drive technology from Seiko. Only 18 pieces made.

The nicest booth at Watch 2016 was from Panerai, you had to step into a room with the lights dimmed and round illuminated ‘submariner hatch’ displays showed the Panerai novelties for 2016.

IWC had their novelties with them as well, and when we were there their booth was so packed, we couldn’t fit in (admitted, we aren’t the smallest guys).

All brands had brand representatives there, to answer all your questions or to assist you when trying a watch (or two). Baume & Mercier brought the Shelby Cobra (for this specific watch) and you were able to have your picture taken with it.

If you love watches like we do and want to see the BaselWorld and SIHH novelties (again), make sure to visit the Watch event next year. Watch 2016 is a well-organized event and – let’s face it – many of the most important brands are there. For next year, we hope that some of them will bring some more of the novelties (Hublot’s Big Bang Unico Sapphire was missing, as well as most of the Patek novelties for men and we have a few more examples) that people are excited about.

More information via Schaap -/- Citroen, one of the largest retailers in The Netherlands. A gallery with more images below.