Okay, so the other day, I got this wild idea to try and remake a fancy watch. Not just any watch, mind you, but a Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100R-010. Yeah, the super luxurious one that costs more than my car! I’ve always been fascinated by how these things are put together, so I thought, why not give it a shot?
First things first, I needed to see what I was up against. I spent hours just staring at pictures of the original watch online. I zoomed in on every little detail, trying to memorize the way the diamonds were set, the shape of the case, and that beautiful rose gold color. This watch has 78 baguette diamonds on the bezel and lugs and another 108 diamonds on the dial flange. It’s a real piece of art!
Then came the fun part – trying to find materials that wouldn’t bankrupt me. Obviously, I wasn’t going to use real diamonds or solid rose gold. I hit up some online stores and local craft shops, hunting for anything that looked remotely similar. I ended up with some shiny crystals that kinda looked like diamonds if you squinted and some rose gold-colored metal pieces. I also got some basic watch parts from an old watch to have a structure to work on.
- Gathered all my tools: tiny screwdrivers, tweezers, a magnifying glass, and a whole lot of patience.
- Started by carefully taking apart an old watch to use its movement as the base.
- Tried to shape the metal pieces to mimic the Gondolo’s case. It was tough, let me tell you! Bending metal is no joke.
- Glued the crystals onto the case where the diamonds should be. This was super tedious and took forever, but it was kinda therapeutic, too.
- Assembled everything, praying that it would actually work.
After many days of non-stop work, it was finally done! My very own, slightly janky, version of the Patek Philippe Gondolo. Did it look exactly like the real thing? Of course not! But it kinda, sorta resembled it, and that was good enough for me. It was more about the process and the challenge of trying to recreate something so intricate.
The Final Result
It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but I was pretty proud of what I managed to do. It’s definitely a conversation starter, and it’s a reminder that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it, even if it’s just making a knock-off of a luxury watch!
I am also curious to see the price difference if I ever manage to sell it! It will never be as expensive as the real one, but I hope one day some collector will appreciate my work and give a good price for it.
This whole experience taught me a lot about watchmaking, patience, and the value of a good challenge. Would I do it again? Maybe. But next time, I might pick a watch with fewer diamonds!