The Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture ‘De Burgemeester’ Edition

Special Editions are a common thing in the industry by now and can be connected to pretty much anything. From cars to football clubs, to high-profile individuals and everything in between. One connection that seems to resonate very well from time to time is the connection between watchmaking and the culinary world. With an appetite for fine watches and fine dining often going hand in hand, it comes together with genuine passion and craftsmanship in one of the latest special editions we learned about. A partnership between Frederique Constant, Reijersen Jewelers and restaurant De Burgemeester resulted in the very tasty Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture ‘De Burgemeester’ Edition watches.

Reijersen Juwelers & restaurant De Burgemeester

For non-Dutch people, both Reijersen Jewellers and restaurant De Burgemeester might be completely unknown but are deserving of some attention. As two ingredients in this recipe for a watch, Reijersen Jewellers and De Burgemeester are all about passion and craftsmanship, albeit stemming from two very different fields of expertise. Reijersen Jewelers is situated in the old town of Oudewater and is owned and run by Adriaan Reijersen van Buuren, an energetic trained goldsmith-jeweller. His very elegant shop carries brands such as Frederique Constant obviously, but also the likes of Czapek, Ateliers DeMonaco, Christiaan van der Klaauw and others.

The second ingredient is the restaurant De Burgemeester, which means The Mayor in Dutch, situated in Linschoten, the Netherlands. Owned and managed by chef Sander Spruijt and his wife Anne, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2011. Sander Spruijt was also voted as Best Chef in the Netherlands by his peers in 2021. His philosophy is to always try and do better, which resonates with Adriaan to such an extent the two regularly work together on events for clients and enthusiasts. It would only be a matter of time before this relationship evolved into watches.

The Slimline QP ‘De Burgemeester’ Edition

Technically nothing has changed in this pair of limited edition watches made with Frederique Constant. For starters, Chef Spruijt and Adriaan have selected the Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture to create their special watch. Available in both polished stainless steel and white gold, the architecture remains the same, with 42mm in diameter and 11.3mm in height. A sapphire crystal covers both the front and back of the watch, as you would expect. it is underneath the front crystal where this Chef’s Special really comes to life, though.

Stemming from the culinary world of Chef Spruijt, the watch has been fitted with a lovely sunray-brushed champagne dial. It comes with silver-toned applied indices and hands and of course a full perpetual calendar display. Spread across the dial are indications for the date, day of the week, the month of the year, leap year and moon phase. Each QP indication is finished in blue, to stand off against the champagne background.

Around the back, you’re greeted by the FC-775 in-house automatic movement we know from previous iterations of the Slimline QP Manufacture. It’s a perfect example of Frederique Constant’s expert ability to manufacture complex movements at an affordable price. When first introduced it was the most affordable QP on the market, at just under EUR 8,000 and although prices have gone up a bit since it’s still quite the masterpiece from the brand. Beating at a rate of 28,800vph, it offers 38 hours of power reserve. For more details about this manufacture movement, check out our in-depth here.

This special Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture ‘De Burgemeester’ Edition is limited to 10 pieces in white gold, and 20 pieces in stainless steel, both worn on a blue alligator leather strap with a pin buckle. The prices are set at EUR 19,995 in white gold and EUR 9,995 in stainless steel.

For more information, please visit FrederiqueConstant.com, ReijersenJuweliers.nl and DeBurgemeester.nl