Okay, so, I got this wild idea to try and remake a Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119R-001. Yeah, I know, it’s a super fancy watch, costs more than my car, maybe even my house. But I’ve always been into taking things apart and, well, trying to put them back together. Not always successfully, I gotta admit.
First off, I started by just staring at pictures of this thing online. It’s got this “Clous de Paris” pattern on the bezel, which is basically a bunch of tiny little pyramids. Looks pretty, but also looks like a nightmare to recreate. The whole thing is shiny and polished, and I read somewhere it has 164 parts inside. 164! I can barely keep track of the screws when I’m fixing my toaster.
I gathered my tools, which mostly consisted of a screwdriver set I got from a discount store, some tweezers, and a magnifying glass. I felt like a real watchmaker, or at least a very, very amateur one.
I didn’t have an actual Patek Philippe to take apart, obviously. So, I bought a cheap watch that looked kinda similar, at least in shape. I figured, if I messed it up, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I popped open the back of the cheap watch and started taking out screws. Tiny, tiny screws. I lost, like, five of them almost immediately. They just vanished into the carpet. Poof.
- Tiny Screws lost: 5 (at least)
- Fingers poked by tweezers: Countless
- Times I almost gave up: A dozen, maybe more
Then came the “Clous de Paris” pattern. I tried using a tiny nail and a hammer to make little dents on a piece of metal. Yeah, that didn’t work. It looked more like a cat had walked across it than anything resembling a fancy watch pattern.
I spent hours trying to get things right, or even remotely close to right. I glued, I soldered (badly), I cursed a lot. My workbench was a mess. Parts everywhere, tools scattered, and me, sitting in the middle of it all, looking defeated.
Eventually, I had something that vaguely resembled a watch. It didn’t look anything like the Patek Philippe, not even close, but it was… something. It ticked, which I considered a major victory. I put the back on, and there it was, my “masterpiece.”
The Results
Well, my remake was far from perfect, nowhere near the real Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119R-001. But you know what? I learned a lot. I learned that making watches is incredibly hard, that tiny screws are the enemy, and that I have a newfound respect for watchmakers. They are magicians who can create something so elegant. As for me, I think I’ll stick to simpler projects. Maybe I’ll try fixing that toaster again.
Would I recommend trying to remake a Patek Philippe? Absolutely not! Unless you enjoy frustration, tiny screws, and the possibility of creating something that looks like it survived a war. But hey, it was an experience. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to afford the real thing. Until then, I’ll be here, admiring it from afar.
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