IWC Boutique Amsterdam Opens Its Doors at the Luxury Half Mile – Watch Shopping Hot Spot

25/04/2014 | By Frank Geelen | 2 min read |

When you think of the Netherlands, you’re likely to think about tulips, wooden shoes, windmills, canals and probably some of Amsterdam’s other (red light) delights. However do not forget the recently opened Stedelijk Museum and Rijksmuseum, the famous Van Gogh Museum, the Hermitage Museum and of course the Anne Frank House. Amsterdam has always been a magnificent place for tourists, and in recent years it has became even better. Yesterday IWC opened the doors of their first IWC Boutique located in Amsterdam’s luxury shopping street, the P.C. Hooftstraat, or short PC.

It’s already being called the Luxury Half Mile, because there’s no place in the world with so many luxury (mono-)brand boutiques so close to each other. In this shopping street you can find boutiques from Burberry, Canali, Cartier, Chanel, Chopard, Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Purdey, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany’s, the Tourbillon Boutique and the flagship store of a huge watch retailer, Schaap & Citroen, who just opened their doors last week. Quite an impressive list, and as of today the new IWC boutique is open for business!

“Selecting PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam as a location for our first IWC boutique in the Netherlands was a logical decision. There are a large number of leading luxury brands already established on this luxury shopping street. In addition, the nearby museums attract many tourists, who also make use of this culturally appealing area for shopping. With IWC’s strong position in the Dutch market, we are proud to open our first boutique at this prestigious address,” explains Robert Pennartz, Regional Director IWC Benelux & Scandinavia.

And that’s a blessing. Just think of the numerous shops your wife would like to visit, and you can do some undisturbed watch shopping at the new IWC boutique. The boutique itself is a very warm and welcoming place, and if you want to ‘hang’ with the crew, there’s a nice lounge upstairs where you can enjoy some unadulterated watch-talk in an relax and informal setting.

To celebrate the boutique’s opening, there’s a limited edition Portuguese Yacht Club “Amsterdam 2014” (Ref. IW390209) that is limited to five pieces. The Portuguese Yacht Club, which we covered here, here and here, is a robust 45.4 mm large red gold watch that comes on a rubber strap with (red gold) folding clasp. It features a chronograph movement, IWC’s in-house calibre 89360, that is visible through a sapphire crystal case back that bears the coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam.