Okay, so the other day, I got this wild idea to try and remake a Patek Philippe watch. Not just any Patek Philippe, mind you, but the Gondolo 7042/100G-010. Yeah, it’s a mouthful, I know. I picked this one because it’s just so darn pretty. I mean, it’s like a piece of jewelry, seriously. 18K gold, diamonds all over the dial, you get the picture.
First off, I gathered all the info I could find about this watch. I scoured the internet, read through forums, and even checked out some official Patek Philippe boutiques. I learned that only boutiques and dealers listed on * are officially authorized to sell Patek, so I made sure to only get information from these sources. This Gondolo, it turns out, is quite the classic, with a design from way back in the early ’90s.
Then, I got down to business. I started by sketching out the design, trying to get every detail just right. This was the fun part. After I had a solid design, I started looking for materials. Finding the right kind of gold wasn’t too hard, but the diamonds, oh boy. I spent days just trying to source the right size and quality of diamonds. It was a real pain, to be honest.
- Sketching the design
- Sourcing materials: 18K gold, diamonds
- Assembling the watch
Once I had all the materials, I started putting the watch together. I enlisted the help of a friend who’s a bit of a watch enthusiast. He helped me with some of the trickier parts, like setting the diamonds and getting the movement right. It was a lot of trial and error, let me tell you. We spent countless hours hunched over my workbench, tweaking this and that.
Finally, after all the hard work, my version of the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100G-010 was complete! It looks amazing, and I’m really proud of how it turned out. It’s not an exact replica, of course. I added a few of my own touches here and there. But it definitely captures the spirit of the original.
I wore it out to a fancy dinner the other night, and I got so many compliments. People couldn’t believe I had made it myself. It felt pretty darn good, I gotta say. This whole project was a wild ride, but I’m so glad I did it. It was a great learning experience, and I ended up with a beautiful watch that I can be proud of.
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