Okay, so, I got this crazy idea to try and remake a Patek Philippe watch. Yeah, I know, it sounds nuts, but hear me out. It’s the Gondolo 7041R-001, a real fancy ladies’ watch that usually sells in those high-end specialty stores. I’ve always liked those Patek Philippe watches, especially this one. It’s a beauty, but, you know, way out of my league in terms of price.
So, I started looking into it. This Gondolo, it’s part of their “form watches” collection, whatever that means. First thing, I gathered a bunch of pictures, watched some videos of the real deal. I needed to get a feel for how this thing looked and felt, at least from afar.
Then came the hard part. I started tinkering. I got some basic watch parts, you know, the hands, the face, some cheap movements, and started putting things together. It was a mess at first. A total mess. Nothing fit right, things broke. Let me tell you, I messed up a lot. But I kept at it. I read articles, watched even more videos of actual watchmakers, and slowly but surely, I started to get the hang of it.
I kept practicing, trying different methods, different tools.
- First, I tried using some cheap quartz movement I found online.
- Then I figured I should probably get the shape of the case right, so I used some moldable metal stuff.
- Then, painting the dial was another nightmare, had to redo it like ten times.
After a ton of trial and error, I finally made something that kinda looked like the Gondolo 7041R-001. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect replica. No way. It’s not going to fool any experts, and it’s definitely not worth the 30 grand the real one goes for. But, you know, it kinda resembled it. It had that rectangular shape, the rose gold-ish color, and the overall feel was there, sort of.
The Finishing
It’s not perfect, not by a long shot. But for a homemade thing, it’s a solid remake of the Gondolo 7041R-001, in my opinion. It captures the essence, I guess. At least, it was a fun project, and I learned a ton about watches. Would I do it again? Probably not. It was a headache. But hey, at least I can say I tried to remake a Patek Philippe. And that’s something, right?