Okay, so, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on this Patek Philippe Gondolo, the 7041R-001 model, for a while. It’s a real beauty, you know? Cushion-shaped case, rose gold, and it’s got diamonds around the dial. Seriously, it’s a looker. But, like, the price tag is way up there. So I thought, “Why not try to remake it myself?” Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, but I was determined.
First, I started digging around for info. Found out the case is 30 x 33.8mm, 18k rose gold, and the original has 108 diamonds. It usually comes with a brown alligator strap, and, of course, it’s got that fancy manual movement inside. I even checked out some online stores and saw that they’re going for around 32,900 USD! Insane, right?
So, after getting a good idea of what I was up against, I got to work. The first big hurdle was the case. I managed to find a similar cushion-shaped watch case online. It wasn’t rose gold, but I figured I could work with that. Then came the diamonds. I obviously wasn’t going to use real ones, so I searched for some good-looking fake diamonds, the kind that sparkle just right, you know. I found some that were close enough in size to the ones on the original.
- Sourcing the case: This took a while, but I finally found a decent one that was the right shape.
- Finding the diamonds: These were easier to find than I expected. Lots of options online for fake diamonds.
- Getting the strap: I found a nice brown leather strap that looked pretty close to the alligator one. It was not cheap, but not too expensive.
Next up, the strap. I didn’t even try to find an alligator one because, well, I am not made of money. I settled for a regular brown leather strap that looked pretty decent. The movement was the trickiest part. I knew I couldn’t replicate the Patek Philippe movement, so I just found a simple, reliable quartz movement that would fit inside the case. It is cheap and easy to find.
Once I had all the parts, I started putting it all together. I carefully set the fake diamonds around the dial, just like the original. It was tedious work, but I took my time and made sure they were all secure. I attached the strap, installed the movement, and fixed the dial and the watch hands.
The Final Result
After all that, I finally had my own “Patek Philippe Gondolo.” It’s not perfect, of course. It’s not made of real gold, the diamonds are fake, and the movement is nothing special. But, you know what? It looks pretty darn good! I’ve been wearing it around, and people have actually asked me if it’s a real Patek Philippe. I get a good laugh out of that, and then I tell them the whole story. It was a fun project, and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. And the best part? It only cost me a fraction of what the real thing would have! I am happy about it.
It is not exactly the same but at least I tried my best. I am not a professional, so it is not bad, right? I showed it to my wife and she was also shocked about how good it is looking. She said that next time she would like a Cartier. I think I need to do some research first. Wish me luck!
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