Style Edit: Rolex Dutch Masters, first ‘slam’ of the show jumping year – winner Willem Greve takes the lead in a sport synonymous with the luxury watch brand
Nothing defines Rolex, one of the world’s most famous luxury watchmakers, more than its commitment to sport. For many decades, from tennis to golf to yachting to motorsport, Rolex has been a key supporter of some of the most thrilling sporting events, sponsoring both major competitions and individual athletes.
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Perhaps none is a more refined yet beautifully rugged encapsulation of everything that Rolex stands for than the noble sport of show jumping. The watchmaker has been involved in show jumping for almost 70 years – including, since 2013, as the sponsor of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, the ultimate achievement in the sport. To win it, riders need to triumph at three consecutive competitions among the four major events on the calendar: the Dutch Masters, the CHIO Aachen, the CSIO Spruce Meadows “Masters” Tournament and the CHI Geneva.
The first of those four, the Dutch Masters, was contested over three days of intense competition in early March in the town of ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
Since 2014, Rolex has been main sponsor, as well as title sponsor of the Grand Prix, the event’s most prestigious class, which itself was established back in 1966, and marked its 50th edition in 2017. Some 37 riders battled it out for this year’s Rolex Grand Prix over a course created by renowned course designer Louis Konickx, with Dutch rider Willem Greve on 12-year-old stallion Highway TN N. O. P eventually coming out on top. Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann bagged second place, with another Dutch rider, Harrie Smolders, finishing in third.
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The win means that Greve takes over as the latest Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping contender from German rider Richard Vogel, winner of the previous event in the series, the CHI Geneva back in December. So far, the Grand Slam has only been achieved once, by Scottish rider Scott Brash, who claimed the honour in 2015. Brash is a Rolex Testimonee – individual athletes the watchmaker supports, and with whom it has a personal relationship. They include many of the foremost names in the history of the sport, including two who have taken home the Rolex Grand Prix title at the Dutch Masters, both of them on more than one occasion: Germany’s Daniel Deusser, who won it in 2015 and 2022, and France’s Kevin Staut, who triumphed in 2010 and 2014.
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Offering support to leading athletes is how Rolex got involved in show jumping in the first place. The story began in 1957, when it partnered with British show jumper Pat Smythe. A remarkable figure in the early history of the sport, Smythe triumphed over numerous personal challenges, including the loss of both of her parents when she was young, to become a prolific competition winner. She became a trailblazer in 1956 when she became the first woman to compete in Olympic show jumping, after a ban on female competitors was lifted – and promptly took home the bronze. Her spirit has fired Rolex’s involvement with the sport ever since.
- The Dutch Masters, the first grand slam event in a calendar year, is followed by the CHIO Aachen, the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament and the CHI Geneva
- The grand slam has only been won by Scotland’s Scott Brash, a Rolex Testimonee – the Swiss watchmaker also supported pioneering Pat Smythe, the first woman to compete in show jumping at the Olympics