Alright, so, I got this itch to mess around with a Patek Philippe Calatrava 5226G-001. Now, I ain’t rich enough to just buy one of these things straight up, so I figured, why not try to remake one myself? Sounds crazy, right? But hey, you never know until you try.
First thing I did was I started looking up everything I could find about this watch. I mean, every little detail. I found out that if you look at the case back of a real one, there’s this hallmark that tells you what it’s made of. Like, for the gold ones, it’ll say “750,” which means it’s 18k gold. And for platinum, it’s “950,” meaning it’s 95 percent pure platinum. Good to know, I guess. I made notes of this for later.
Then, I started thinking about the size. I checked the diameter is 27mm, and the thickness is about 3.3mm. Pretty standard stuff, but I wanted to get it just right.
Next up was trying to find materials. I obviously couldn’t get real gold or platinum, so I had to settle for some cheaper alternatives. I went to a bunch of different stores, looking for metals that looked the part. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to find some stuff that was close enough.
- Sourcing the Case: I started with the case. I found a guy who was selling some old watch cases online. They weren’t Patek Philippe, obviously, but I figured I could make it work. I ordered a few different ones to see which one would be the best fit.
- Movement: The movement was tricky. I knew I couldn’t replicate the real deal, but I wanted something that at least looked similar. I ended up taking apart a few old watches and trying to piece together something that would fit inside the case. It was a lot of trial and error, and a whole lot of frustration.
- Dial and Hands: For the dial and hands, I tried to print out some designs I found online. I used some decent quality paper and cut them out real carefully. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could do with what I had.
Putting it all together was a nightmare. I scratched up a couple of cases trying to get the movement to fit. The hands were super delicate, and I broke a few before I managed to get them on. And the dial? Let’s just say it took a few tries to get it lined up even remotely close to where it should be. The whole thing is a bit off.
Honestly, the finished product is a mess. It looks somewhat like a Calatrava 5226G-001 if you squint, but it’s definitely not fooling anyone. But you know what? I had a blast doing it. It was a fun little project, and I learned a lot about watches in the process.
Would I do it again?
Probably not. It was a lot of work for a pretty poor result. But hey, it’s a good story, right?
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