Back in Amsterdam

I said I'd be back this summer. Here we are.

Amsterdam with the sun out is a different city. People strolling the canals, little boats sliding past, everyone caught mid-look at the architecture. It's the kind of backdrop that makes the work feel easy.

Breakfast at Layers

Early start, straight into the city. First stop was Layers, a café I'd been told about more than once.

The pastries live up to it. If you have a soft spot for them, go.

Overhead point-of-view of a traveller walking with a rolling suitcase and a brown leather bag, a steel Cartier Santos on the wrist, on a stone terminal floor

Pastries laid out on a brushed steel counter at Layers bakery in Amsterdam, each beside a small printed price card

Interior of Layers bakery in Amsterdam, a tall rack of croissants and pastries behind the steel counter

A Layers tray with a cream-topped cruffin, a pistachio eclair, iced coffees and a matcha, on branded red and white paper

A counter, a rack still filling up, and a tray that settled the morning.

Monday morning

The City

Then out with the camera. Canals, gables, bikes leaning on every railing. Amsterdam in July is in full tourist mode, and that works in your favour when you're shooting.

An Amsterdam canal in summer, trees along both banks, boats moored ahead and a bicycle handlebar in the foreground

An ornate Amsterdam building with a domed corner cupola and spire against a blue summer sky

Jimmy Heneidy shooting with a compact camera on an Amsterdam cobbled street, brown jacket and cream trousers, bikes parked along the canal behind him

A classic wooden salon boat gliding along an Amsterdam canal in summer sunlight, people walking the quay behind it

Out on foot, and the city keeps handing you frames.

Late morning

The Watches

I say it every time and it stays true: the pieces at Amsterdam Vintage Watches keep surprising me. A Day-Date with a red khanjar on the dial. A tray of gold you want to sit with for an hour.

Creating content for Collectors Gallery and AVW is a genuine pleasure. Every visit, something catches me off guard.

And the people. Familiar faces and new ones, all in the same room for the same reason. That's the part I hold on to.

A steel Rolex Day-Date on a President bracelet worn on the wrist, walking over cobbles

A vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date on a steel President bracelet, blue dial set with diamond markers and a red Omani khanjar emblem, worn with a denim cuff

Close selfie of Jimmy taking a bite of a small burger in a dark-walled room

A wooden display tray of vintage gold watches at Amsterdam Vintage Watches, shelves of watch books and clocks behind it

Jimmy in sunglasses holding up a peace sign in front of a framed painted portrait at Amsterdam Vintage Watches

A gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on the wrist in sunlight, integrated gold bracelet catching the light

Everything came out of the case and onto the wrist. Lunch happened somewhere in the middle.

Afternoon

The W, from the Top

I stayed at the W, right in the centre. Rooftop pool, the whole city laid out below. The kind of place you settle into a little too comfortably.

View from above over Dam Square in Amsterdam, the National Monument obelisk and the Royal Palace, people crossing the square below

Jimmy sitting on a rooftop terrace sofa at the W Amsterdam, beers on the low wooden table beside a Cartier watch and a leather wash bag

Brass W Amsterdam Exchange lettering mounted on a brick wall inside the hotel

A cold one on the table, the square somewhere below, and nowhere to be.

Late afternoon

Dinner at Mr Porter

The evening ended at Mr Porter, the rooftop restaurant upstairs. A steakhouse with real atmosphere, a house DJ playing while you eat, generous plates and a view to match.

If you're in Amsterdam and you want a proper steakhouse night with a little extra of everything, this is the one.