Got some free time lately and thought, why not try to make a watch? I mean, how hard could it be, right? I’ve always been into those classic-looking watches, and the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7041R-001 is just a beauty. So, I decided to give it a shot and remake one myself.
First things first, I needed to gather all the materials. This was probably the trickiest part. I did a bunch of looking around, trying to find parts that looked similar to the original watch.
- The Case: I found a rose gold-colored case online that had a similar shape to the Gondolo. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was close enough.
- The Movement: Okay, I’ll admit, I didn’t make the movement from scratch. I bought a ready-made one. It’s the heart of the watch, and making one is way beyond my skills.
- The Dial: This was fun. I found a plain white dial and then carefully painted the Roman numerals on it. Took me a few tries to get it right, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out.
- The Hands: These were also bought separately. I found some that matched the style of the original watch.
- The Strap: I got a brown leather strap, which is pretty standard for this kind of watch.
Once I had all the parts, I started putting everything together. I watched a ton of videos online on how to assemble a watch. It was definitely a learning process.
The first step was to attach the movement to the dial. Then, I carefully placed the hands on the movement. This was super delicate work. One wrong move, and I could damage the whole thing. After that, I put the dial and movement into the case and then attached the strap.
Putting it all together
It took a lot of patience, but I finally finished it! It wasn’t perfect, obviously. There were a few imperfections here and there, but overall, I was really proud of what I accomplished. It looked pretty darn close to the real Gondolo, at least to my untrained eye.
Wearing the watch for the first time was a great feeling. It was like wearing a little piece of art that I made myself. I got a bunch of compliments on it, and when I told people I made it, they were pretty surprised.
This whole experience taught me a lot. It showed me that with enough patience and effort, you can create something really special. Plus I get a lot of good deals and low prices on these small parts. It might not be a real Patek Philippe, but it’s my Patek Philippe, and that’s what makes it unique.
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