Press Releases 2008

The number of awards garnered by SEIKO Spring Drive increased again recently with the election of the Spring Drive Chronograph as the Netherlands Watch of the Year.

Now in its fourth year, the awards are run by the horloges magazine, which is the Netherlands' most prestigious watch publication. The results were announced to the magazine's 30,000 subscribers in the July edition.

The awards were made after a two stage selection process. A panel of distinguished watch experts first reviewed the many entrants submitted in each of the 5 categories, and selected a short-list. The makers of each short-listed watch were then invited to make a presentation to the panel in a marathon day-long session at the elite Huis ter Duin hotel in Noordwijk.

SEIKO Netherlands BV (SNBV) sent a four-man delegation to make the presentation and the judges were sufficiently impressed to grant the award in the €3,000 to €10,000 category to Spring Drive.

The jury comprised Mr. Kalf, a teacher at the highly esteemed WOSTEP education centre in Neuchatel, Mr. Gaemers, the only approved watch evaluator to the Dutch Royal Family, Mr. Nijpels, former Commissioner of the Queen and a noted watch collector, Mr. Wooter, watch specialist at Sotheby’s Amsterdam and Geneva, Mr. Des Bouvrie, a famous Dutch designer and watch lover, Mrs. Collignon, the queen of Dutch fashion, Mr. Stapel, a famous Dutch actor and watch lover, Mr. Homburg, an influential real estate developer with one of the biggest watch collections in the world, and a high end watch retailer, Mr. Van Hell. The publisher of the magazine, Mr. Harry Wijnschenk, presided as Chairman.

The SEIKO Spring Drive chronograph shared the winners’ spotlight with entries from Nomos Glashuette, Piaget, Jaeger LeCoultre and Bell & Ross. The full results, along with the jury’s comments can be seen at www.horloges-magazine.nl.