Alright, let me tell you about this little project I got myself into. So, I’ve always been a bit of a watch guy, right? And Patek Philippe, well, they’re like the kings of the watch world. There’s this one watch of theirs, the Gondolo 7042/100G-010, that I’ve been eyeing for a while. It’s a real beauty, but let’s just say it’s way out of my price range. So, what’s a guy to do? I decided to try and remake it myself!
First things first, I needed to get a good look at the original. I spent hours online, you know, just staring at pictures of the Gondolo 7042/100G-010. I looked at it from every angle, zoomed in on all the little details, just trying to get a feel for it. I even watched some videos of people showing it off, just to see how it moved and all that. Then came the research on the materials.
Now, for the materials. The original watch is made of white gold, which is, you guessed it, super expensive. I needed something that looked similar but wouldn’t break the bank. I did some digging and found this white gold-plated stainless steel stuff. It’s way cheaper, but it still has that shiny, white gold look. I ordered a bunch of it online, along with some other bits and pieces I thought I’d need.
The Hard Part
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The Movement: This is the heart of the watch, the thing that makes it tick. The movement in the original Gondolo is a real piece of art, and there’s no way I could make something like that myself. I started scouring online to see if I could buy a similar movement, and lucky for me, there are websites that specialize in this kind of stuff.
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The Case: This is the body of the watch, the part that holds everything together. I found a place that could custom-make a watch case for me. I sent them the measurements and some pictures of the Gondolo, and they got to work. I had them use the white gold-plated stainless steel I found earlier. It took a few weeks, but the case finally arrived, and it looked pretty darn good!
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The Dial and Hands: The dial is the face of the watch, and the hands are, well, the hands. These were tricky. I wanted them to look as close to the original as possible. I ended up finding a guy online who makes custom watch parts. I sent him some pictures of the Gondolo’s dial and hands, and he did his best to copy them. They turned out better than I expected!
Putting it all together was a real challenge. I’m not gonna lie, there were times when I thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew. But I kept at it, and slowly but surely, the watch started to take shape. I used tiny tools, a magnifying glass, and a whole lot of patience. Finally, after weeks of work, it was done.
And you know what? It actually worked! It wasn’t perfect, of course. There were some imperfections here and there, but overall, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It looked a lot like the original Gondolo 7042/100G-010, and it kept time pretty well, too. I wore it around for a few days, and I gotta say, it felt pretty good to have this thing on my wrist that I’d made myself. It’s not a real Patek Philippe, but it’s my Patek Philippe, and that’s good enough for me.
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