Okay, so, I’ve been wanting to remake a Patek Philippe watch for a while now, and I finally decided to go for it. I picked the Gondolo 7042/100G-010 model because, well, it’s a beauty. It’s got that classic look with all those diamonds, and who doesn’t love a bit of sparkle, right?
First things first, I gathered all the info I could find about this watch. I mean, you can’t just jump into something like this blind. I scoured the internet, looked up photos, and read through any descriptions I could get my hands on. Turns out, this Gondolo is an 18k white gold, 31mm by 34.8mm, with a diamond-paved dial. Fancy, huh?
Then, the real work began. I started by sketching out the watch. I’m no artist, but I did my best to get the proportions right. This was harder than it looked, especially with all the little details on the dial. Then I try to find the materials, I mean, finding white gold and diamonds isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
- Sourcing the white gold: Man, that was a mission. I visited countless jewelry supply stores and even reached out to some online vendors. I finally found a supplier who could get me the right kind of white gold, although it wasn’t cheap.
- Getting the diamonds: Let me tell you, sourcing ethical diamonds is a whole other story. I did a ton of research and eventually settled on lab-grown diamonds. They’re just as sparkly, and you don’t have to worry about any shady practices. And they matched exactly the same as the original one.
Once I had all the materials, I got down to the nitty-gritty. I carefully measured and cut the white gold according to my sketches, filed and sanded it down. And then carefully set the diamonds on. This part took forever, and my fingers were killing me by the end of it, but it was worth it.
Putting It All Together
The last step was assembling everything. I carefully put the movement into the case, attached the dial and hands, and then finally, added the strap. Seeing it all come together was such a satisfying moment. I mean, I actually remade a Patek Philippe watch! It wasn’t perfect, of course, but it was mine, and I was damn proud of it. The original one uses manually-winding mechanical watch, so I also found a similar mechanism to make it work.
This whole project took me months, and there were definitely times when I wanted to give up. But I’m so glad I stuck with it. I learned so much about watchmaking, and I ended up with a beautiful timepiece that I can cherish forever. It’s not just a watch; it’s a symbol of my hard work and determination. It may not be an original Patek Philippe, but I made it myself, and that’s what really counts.
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