Okay, so I’ve been wanting to try my hand at remaking a watch for a while now, and I finally took the plunge. I decided to go with the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227G-010. It’s a classic style, you know, really simple and clean, which I thought would be a good starting point.
First, I gathered all my tools and materials. I already had a pretty decent watchmaking toolkit, but I needed to get some specific parts for this model. I spent a good chunk of time just researching where to find these parts, you know. I wanted good stuff, not just any cheap knock-offs.
Then I carefully disassembled an old watch I had lying around. This was just for practice, really. I wanted to get a feel for how everything fits together before I touched the actual Patek Philippe parts. It’s trickier than you might think, lots of tiny screws and delicate pieces.
Once I felt comfortable, I started working on the actual remake. The case is about 39 mm in diameter, which is a pretty standard size, and it’s about 9.24 mm thick. These round-faced watches uphold the supreme elegance. I carefully examined each piece, making sure it was in perfect condition. I cleaned everything meticulously. You wouldn’t believe the amount of dust that can accumulate in these things!
The Movement
- It has a really thin self-winding movement, just like the original.
- I spent hours just staring at it, marveling at the engineering.
Putting it all back together was the real challenge. I had to be incredibly patient, making sure every gear and spring was in the exact right place. I used a magnifying glass to see what I was doing, and my hands were shaking a little bit, not gonna lie.
There were a couple of moments where I thought I’d messed it up completely. Like, I dropped a tiny screw and spent an hour looking for it, and at one point, I thought I’d lost one of them. But I took deep breaths, walked away for a bit, and then came back to it with fresh eyes.
Finally, after what felt like forever, I managed to get it all assembled. I wound it up, held my breath, and… it started ticking! I couldn’t believe it. I actually did it. It’s not perfect, of course, but I’m pretty darn proud of myself. I put it on my wrist, it feels like a 41-dollar watch, but it’s a really good feeling to know I made it myself.
It wasn’t easy. A lot of time and patience went into it. My wife kept telling me it was not a good idea in the first place. But I’m glad I didn’t give up. Now I’ve got a beautiful, one-of-a-kind watch. A remake, but still special. I’m already thinking about what watch to tackle next!
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