Okay, so, I’ve been wanting to remake that Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100G-010 watch, the one from their official flagship store, for a while now. You know, the one with the rectangular case in white gold? Yeah, that’s the one. It’s a real beauty, but let’s be honest, the price tag is a little…ouch. So, I figured, why not try to make my own version?
First off, I spent a good chunk of time just staring at pictures of this watch online. I mean, really studying them. I needed to get a feel for the size, the shape, that beautiful 18k white gold case with the baguette diamonds along the bezel and lugs. I got some dimensions: it’s 31mm by 34.8mm, which seemed like a good size, not too big, not too small.
Then came the fun part – finding the materials. I obviously couldn’t afford real white gold or diamonds, so I had to get creative. I found a decent rectangular watch case online that was made of stainless steel. It wasn’t white gold, but it had a nice, polished finish that kind of gave off a similar vibe. For the diamonds, I opted for some cubic zirconia stones. They’re not the real deal, but they sparkle, and that’s what matters, right?
- The Case: I carefully removed the original bezel from the stainless steel case. It was a bit tricky, but I managed. Then, I used some strong adhesive to attach the cubic zirconia stones along the bezel and lugs, trying to mimic the pattern on the original Patek Philippe.
- The Movement: Now, the original watch has a manually wound mechanical movement. I’m not a watchmaker, so I settled for a simple quartz movement I found online. It’s not the same, but it keeps time, and that’s the main thing.
- The Dial: This was the hardest part. The original has a beautiful diamond dial. I searched high and low for something similar, but couldn’t find anything that really fit the bill. So, I ended up using a plain white dial and adding a few tiny cubic zirconia stones around the edges to give it a little extra sparkle.
- The Strap: I replaced the original strap with a nice, black leather one. I think it gives the watch a more sophisticated look.
Putting it all together was a bit of a challenge. I had to be super careful not to scratch the case or damage the movement. But, after a few hours of work, I finally had my own version of the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042.
Is it perfect? Of course not. It’s not made of white gold, the diamonds aren’t real, and it doesn’t have that fancy mechanical movement. But, you know what? I’m pretty proud of it. It’s a decent replica, and it looks pretty good on my wrist. Plus, I had a lot of fun making it. It was a fun project, and I learned a lot about watches in the process. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford the real thing, but for now, this will do just fine.
The whole process is a good try, if you have the will, you can do it, too!
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