Okay, so, I got this wild idea the other day. I was staring at my buddy’s fancy watch – a real Patek Philippe, mind you – and thought, “Hey, I bet I could make one of those.” Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy. I’m no watchmaker, not even close. But I like a challenge, you know?
So I started looking into it. I decided to try and remake this one model, the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7041R-001. It’s a real beauty – rose gold, manual wind, just classy as heck. I found out it’s been around since about 2016, so it’s got that vintage vibe going on too.
First thing I did was just look at pictures, a lot of pictures. I mean, you can find anything on the internet these days, right? I found some that said new ones are going for like $26,000! For a watch! I guess that’s the price of luxury, huh? The one I’m trying to copy is 30mm by 33.8mm, 18K rose gold. It’s got a silver dial, and diamonds. Real fancy stuff. It says that it’s a new model from 2024 with the original box and papers.
Then I started thinking about how watches even work. Gears and springs and all that, it’s like a tiny little machine. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty intimidating. I don’t even know how to take apart a regular watch, let alone build one from scratch!
Getting My Hands Dirty
But I wasn’t gonna let that stop me. I figured I’d start small. I got some cheap watch movements online – you know, the guts of the watch – and just started taking them apart. It was messy, I lost a few screws, and I definitely broke a couple of things. But hey, that’s how you learn, right?
- Sourcing the Movement: I searched online for a basic, inexpensive watch movement to practice on. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it had all the essential parts.
- Disassembly: This was the fun (and frustrating) part. I carefully took apart the movement, trying to remember where everything went. I even took pictures with my phone to help me remember.
- Reassembly: Putting it all back together was even harder than taking it apart. I fumbled around a lot, but eventually, I managed to get it ticking again. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked!
After a few weeks of that, I felt a little more confident. Not like, “I can build a Patek Philippe” confident, but more like, “Maybe I won’t completely mess this up” confident. So I started looking into what I’d need to actually make a watch case. Rose gold is way out of my budget, so I settled on some cheaper metal for now. Just to practice, you know?
I’m still in the early stages of this whole thing. It’s a long shot, I know. But I’m having fun with it, and that’s what matters, right? I’ll keep you guys updated on my progress. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll have a half-decent looking Gondolo 7041R-001 replica on my wrist. Or maybe I’ll just have a pile of broken watch parts. Either way, it’s an adventure!
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