Okay, so, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and today I finally did it. I remade a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5713/1, the classic style. It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Here’s how I did it.
First, I gathered all my materials. I needed a donor watch, obviously. I used an old watch that I had lying around, one that I didn’t really care about. Then, I needed some tools. Nothing too fancy, just some basic stuff like screwdrivers, tweezers, and a loupe. And of course, I needed the parts to make it look like a 5713/1. I got a new dial, hands, and a bezel online. They weren’t official Patek parts, just some aftermarket stuff, but they looked the part.
Next, I took apart the donor watch. This was the scariest part, to be honest. I’ve never taken apart a watch before, and I was afraid I’d mess something up. But I took it slow, followed some tutorials online, and eventually, I got it all apart. I laid out all the pieces carefully on my workbench so I wouldn’t lose anything.
Then came the fun part. I started assembling the new watch. I replaced the old dial with the new one. It was a bit tricky, but I managed to get it in there. Then I put in the new hands. This was even trickier because they’re so small, but with a bit of patience, I got them on too. Finally, I put on the new bezel. It just snapped right into place, which was a relief.
After that, I put the whole thing back together. I reversed the steps I took to disassemble the donor watch. It was a bit easier this time around since I knew what I was doing. And voila, I had my own, remade Patek Philippe Nautilus 5713/1.
The End Result
It’s not perfect, like I said. The finishing isn’t as good as a real Patek, and the movement is obviously not a Patek movement. But it looks pretty close to the real deal, at least from a distance. And it was a lot of fun to make. I’m not sure I would wear it out in public, but it’s a cool project to have on my shelf.
All in all, it was a fun and rewarding experience. I learned a lot about watches, and I got to flex my DIY muscles. If you’re thinking about doing something similar, I say go for it. Just be prepared to spend some time and maybe make a few mistakes along the way.
- Donor watch – A must-have.
- Tools – You need them.
- Patience – Lots and lots of it.
That’s it. Hope you enjoyed this little story of mine. It was fun, you should try something like this some time.
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