Okay, so the other day, I got this wild idea to try and remake a Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100R-010. Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, right? But I was like, why not give it a shot?
First off, I started digging around for info. I mean, I needed to know what I was getting myself into. I went through some watch forums, and they were talking about the original having a Caliber 215 movement, being manually wound, and having 251 diamonds—fancy stuff! I made some notes like “Patek Philippe Gondolo,” “7042/100R-010,” “251 diamonds,” “Caliber 215,” etc. So many jargons, but they are essentials.
Then, I thought, “Where can I even find this?” I found some websites. Some of them were selling the original for, like, $254,826! Can you believe that? It’s insane. I also found sites that are selling replicas and even have videos talking about whether remakes are worth buying. Some were saying, “It’s a classic style, but is it worth the money?” That got me thinking even more. The price is definitely reasonable, so I start to make it.
I decided to document everything. I mean, if I’m going to do this, I might as well share the pain and glory, right? I started sketching out designs, trying to get the look of that diamond-paved dial and the rose gold bracelet. It was tough, man. Getting those tiny details right is no joke. I sketched everything, first the general shape and design, and then every detail and feature. After that, I tried to make a prototype and tried to make it look like the original.
- Sourcing Materials: Finding the right materials was a whole other challenge. I wanted to get as close as possible to the original, so I spent hours looking for rose gold that looked just right and tiny gems that could pass for diamonds.
- Assembly: Then came the actual assembly. I’m not gonna lie; it was frustrating. Those tiny pieces, my hands shaking, trying to set those little “diamonds” in a circular pattern… it was a mess. It took me several days to assemble the parts I made.
- Testing: I tried my best to make a mechanical manually wound movement, but it was really hard. I tried several times to make it work, but they just won’t work well.
After a lot of trial and error, I finally had something that resembled the Gondolo 7042/100R-010. It wasn’t perfect, of course. The movement was a bit off, and I’m pretty sure my “diamonds” weren’t fooling anyone, but it looked pretty decent. The watch I finally made was not working well. The watch hands were not moving, but the appearance is good.
The Result
In the end, it was a cool experience. Would I recommend it? Probably not, unless you’ve got a ton of patience and some serious crafting skills. It’s way harder than it looks. But hey, I got a neat-looking watch out of it, and I learned a lot about what goes into making these luxury pieces. It’s a fun story to tell, if nothing else.
So, that’s my little adventure in trying to remake a Patek Philippe. Hope you enjoyed the ride!
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