The People Behind LIGURE Watches: Jannieke van Geet
- Carola de Witt
- Jan 15
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
At LIGURE Watches, every timepiece is shaped by people as much as by precision. Behind the design, craftsmanship, and story of each creation stands a shared belief in timeless luxury, thoughtful design, and enduring quality. In this blog series, The People Behind LIGURE Watches, we take you inside the brand to meet the individuals who bring LIGURE to life, starting with the creative force at its heart: Jannieke van Geet.
Designing with Story at the Core
Jannieke van Geet at LIGURE Watches
She approaches design as a form of storytelling. With more than two decades of experience in graphic and product design, her work is defined by restraint, balance, and narrative depth. Rather than following trends, she builds atmospheres quietly layered worlds that unfold over time.
From The Dutch Card House Company to LIGURE
Before co-founding LIGURE Watches, she built an international following through The Dutch Card House Company, where she reimagined playing cards as collectible design objects. Each deck was composed with the care of a small-edition artwork, rich in symbolism, balance, and intention. That sensitivity to narrative and detail continues to inform everything she creates.
Designing Harbour of Fortune
In parallel, Jannieke also designed the board game Harbour of Fortune, an ambitious project rooted in narrative depth, visual restraint, and world-building. Much like her work in design objects and timepieces, the game reflects her ability to translate story, structure, and atmosphere into a tangible experience, reinforcing a creative approach where meaning and craftsmanship are inseparable.
From Objects to Time
The Signature Tartaruga as a Design Foundation
A timepiece, in Jannieke’s view, is not simply an object. It is something worn daily, shaped by movement, light, and experience. It must feel intuitive, enduring, and quietly present. A defining expression of this philosophy is the LIGURE Signature Tartaruga case, designed by Jannieke as a cornerstone for the brand. With its distinctive proportions and character, and the crown positioned at four o’clock the Tartaruga is conceived as the center point of the existing LIGURE collection, and a foundation for what comes next. She also set the date aperture within an appliqué index, maintaining a clean, balanced dial architecture.
Creative Direction at LIGURE Watches
The LIGURE Design Studio in Castell’Arquato
Jannieke works from the LIGURE design studio in Castell’Arquato, a historic hill town in Northern Italy. Surrounded by centuries-old architecture and the steady rhythm of Italian life, she shapes the creative direction of the brand from a place deeply connected to its inspiration. The setting itself carries a cinematic quality, Castell’Arquato served as a filming location for Ladyhawke, the cult classic starring Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick.
From this studio, she oversees the visual and aesthetic foundations of LIGURE Watches, from design concepts and detailing to imagery, storytelling, and brand expression. Her role is one of distillation: to ensure that every timepiece reflects calm confidence, authenticity, and longevity. Her work continues to evolve the collection. Current projects include a mid-size 36 mm chronograph, as well as a new mid-size timepiece based on the Signature Tartaruga case, extending the brand’s defining design language into new proportions while remaining true to its core.
A Shared Vision
The Ray-Ban Beginning in 1990
The foundations of LIGURE Watches were laid long before the brand itself existed. In 1990, Loek Oprinsen and Pieter van Geet first met while working at Bausch & Lomb
Ray-Ban, where shared standards of quality, precision, and professional integrity took shape. That early relationship would later form the basis of LIGURE. As co-founder and Designer, Jannieke ensures that this shared foundation is translated into form and feeling. Under her guidance, LIGURE Watches is not defined by a single collection, but by a coherent and enduring world; one where design, craftsmanship, and emotion move in quiet harmony.
Next Episode: Loek Oprinsen
In the next episode of The People Behind LIGURE Watches, we introduce Loek Oprinsen, whose decades of horological expertise, market insight, and experience working with renowned Swiss watch brands help safeguard the technical integrity and long-term credibility behind every LIGURE timepiece.
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