Alright, let’s talk about this little project I got myself into. I decided to remake the Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119G-001. Yeah, I know, sounds fancy, right? Well, it kind of is, but I wanted to see if I could pull it off.
First thing I did was look up a bunch of pictures and info about this watch online. I needed to get a good look at it from every angle. Found out this thing is usually made with 18k white gold. It’s got this cool “Clous de Paris” pattern on the bezel, which is like a tiny, repeating pyramid design. Looked super detailed, and I thought, “Well, this will be interesting.” The size is 39mm, not too big, not too small.
I started by sketching out the design. I’m no artist, but I did my best to copy that Clous de Paris pattern. It was a pain, honestly. Each tiny pyramid had to be just right. Then I had to figure out the dial. It’s this charcoal gray color, which I thought was pretty slick. The hour markers are these little white gold pieces, and the hands are like, these sharp, pointy things that Patek Philippe calls “dauphine-style.” I tried my best to draw them out, but man, it was tricky to get them looking clean and sharp like the real deal.
Next, I tried to recreate the dial with my graphic design software. I messed around with the colors and fonts, I was trying to make it look exactly like the pictures I found. The font for the “Patek Philippe” logo is super specific, so that took a while to get right. And getting that charcoal gray color to look just right on screen was another headache.
The real challenge, I figured, would be recreating that Clous de Paris pattern on the bezel. I used a 3D modeling program for this. First, I modeled the basic shape of the watch case. Then, I started working on the bezel. I had to create one tiny pyramid, then duplicate it and arrange them all around the bezel. It was tedious work, let me tell you. Each pyramid had to be positioned perfectly, and the angles had to be just right to get that distinctive pattern. It took me days, but I finally got it looking pretty close to the real thing.
After I finished the 3D model, I figured I’d try printing it out on my 3D printer. I printed out a few versions, tweaking the settings each time to get the details as sharp as possible. The Clous de Paris pattern was so fine that it was tough to get it to print perfectly. But after a bunch of tries, I finally got a print I was happy with. It’s not white gold, obviously, but it captured the look of the watch pretty well.
The final touch was to create a little mock-up of an online store. I designed a simple product page with the image of the watch and some details. Like the price – I saw that the real one goes for around $29,446 online, which is way out of my budget, of course. I added some details like “18k white gold,” “39mm,” and “charcoal gray dial” just to make it look legit.
- Here’s what I learned from this whole thing:
- First, those Patek Philippe guys know what they’re doing. This watch is a piece of art, and trying to recreate it made me appreciate the craftsmanship even more.
- Second, 3D modeling and printing are pretty amazing. You can create some really cool stuff if you have the patience.
- Third, I’m definitely not a watchmaker. But hey, it was a fun little project, and I got a cool-looking model out of it.
So, that’s my story of trying to remake the Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119G-001. It was a challenge, but I’m glad I tried it. Maybe next time I’ll try something a little less complicated. Or maybe not. We’ll see!
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