Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with watches for a while now, and I gotta say, this latest project was a doozy. I decided to try my hand at remaking the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100R-010. Yeah, the super fancy one that costs more than my house. It’s a real beauty, covered in diamonds and made of rose gold. This wasn’t just some quick job; it took me ages to get it right.
First off, I started by gathering all the info I could find about this watch. Scouring the internet, looking at pictures, reading descriptions, you name it. I needed to know every little detail. The watch has this 18ct rose gold case and it’s packed with 251 diamonds! Plus, the movement is a manual one, caliber 215. And the bracelet, oh man, it’s got these Akoya pearls that are just gorgeous.
Then, I got to work. I began by sourcing similar materials. Finding rose gold that looked just right was tough, but I managed it. The diamonds were another story. I obviously couldn’t use real ones, so I had to find some high-quality fakes that still looked the part. It took a lot of trial and error, but I finally found some that had the right sparkle.
Next up, the movement. Now, I’m no expert watchmaker, but I know my way around a movement. I took apart an old watch I had lying around and started figuring out how to modify it to match the Patek Philippe’s caliber 215. This was probably the hardest part. Lots of tiny parts, lots of frustration, and lots of very careful work. I spent nights hunched over my workbench, tweezers in hand, trying to get everything just so.
- Gathering the materials: This took me about a week.
- Sourcing the fake diamonds: Another week, lots of online searching.
- Working on the movement: This took the longest, nearly three weeks.
- Assembling the bracelet and setting the “diamonds”: Another two weeks.
The bracelet was another challenge. Those Akoya pearls are so delicate, and I had to figure out a way to set them into the rose gold bracelet without damaging them. I practiced on some cheap beads first, just to get the hang of it. Once I felt confident, I started working on the real thing. It was slow going, but I managed to get all the pearls set perfectly.
Finally, after all that work, it was time to put it all together. I assembled the case, set the “diamonds”, attached the movement, and connected the bracelet. Seeing it all come together was amazing. It wasn’t perfect, of course, but it looked pretty damn close to the real deal.
I wore it around for a few days, just to see how it felt. It was a bit heavier than I expected, but it looked stunning. People who saw it couldn’t believe it wasn’t the real thing. I even had a few people ask me where I got it, thinking it was a genuine Patek Philippe!
The End Result
In the end, I’m really proud of how this project turned out. It was a ton of work, but it was worth it. I learned a lot about watchmaking, and I got to create something beautiful. Would I do it again? Maybe. It was definitely a challenge, but that’s what makes it fun, right?
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