Hey everyone, it’s your boy back again with another project. This time, I got my hands dirty trying to remake the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227R-001. Let me tell you, it was a journey!
So, I started by gathering all the materials. I’m talking about going through tons of stuff, trying to find the right pieces. This thing, the original, it’s rose gold, 39 mm, not too big, not too small. It’s a real looker. Self-winding, so you don’t have to bother with it. It’s a luxury watch, that’s for sure.
Then came the actual work. Now, I’m no expert, but I tried my best to get it as close as possible to the real deal. I measured everything, like a hundred times. The diameter is supposed to be 27 mm, and the thickness is 3.3 mm. That’s tiny! And get this, the original has 212 parts. 212! And 30 jewels. Mine? Not so many, haha, but I did use 164 parts and tried to get them together. Each part had to fit just right. It was like a puzzle, but way more complicated. The thickness of the movement is a big deal, I tried to keep it around 2.55 mm like the real one. Took a lot of tries to get the size right.
- First, I spent days just looking at pictures of the watch. I mean, really studying them.
- Then, I started sketching out my own version. Lots of erasing and starting over.
- Next, I made a prototype. It was rough, but it was a start.
- After that, I refined it, piece by piece. Each part took forever.
It’s got this shock absorber thing, which was a pain to replicate. But I managed, somehow. And the jewels, oh boy, those are there in the original, 29 of them. I had to figure out where they go and all that. It’s supposed to be water resistant, so I made sure to seal it tight.
I spent hours and hours on this thing. There were times I wanted to just throw it all away, to be honest. But I kept at it. Got dusty in the summer, you know. And this watch, when you wind it, it makes this satisfying sound. Not sure if I got that right, but it sounds good to me.
The Result
Finally, after all that work, I finished it. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s mine. And I’m proud of it. It’s not a real Patek Philippe, of course. It’s not rose gold, and it probably wouldn’t fool anyone who knows watches. It’s not going to sell for 44K bucks or any of that. But it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. If you’re lookin’ for a classic style watch, it’s a pretty thing.
So, there you have it. My attempt at remaking a Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227R-001. It was a challenge, but a fun one. If you’re lookin’ for a real good remake watch that looks like a million bucks but don’t cost near that much, maybe try something like this. And if you’ve got the money and like fancy things, you can always get the real one.