Okay, so I’ve been messing around with watches for a while now, and I gotta say, this latest project was a real doozy. I decided to try my hand at remaking the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100G-010, and let me tell you, it was a wild ride from start to finish.
First off, I started by gathering all the materials I could find. Now, I’m not exactly swimming in cash, so getting my hands on some genuine white gold was out of the question. Instead, I opted for some good old 316L stainless steel. It’s sturdy, it’s shiny, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I got a bunch of it, in sheets and some rods of different sizes, just to be safe.
Then came the real fun part – shaping the case. Man, let me tell you, working with stainless steel is no joke. I had to use a whole arsenal of tools – files, saws, you name it – just to get it into the basic shape of the Gondolo. Bending, shaping, lots of hammering, it took days! After shaping the case, I moved to the bezel. The original has this fluted, bidirectional thing going on, which was a pain to replicate. After a few failed attempts and many, many curses, I finally managed to get something that resembled the original. It rotates, it’s fluted, it’s all good. I even managed to source a decent replica, to make my life a little easier when it came time to recreate the inner workings.
Next up was the dial. Now, the original Gondolo has this gorgeous diamond-studded dial, which, again, was way out of my budget. Instead, I went for a simple, bright white dial. I know, I know, it’s not as fancy, but hey, it still looks pretty darn good. I made this part from the sheets I bought. I got some paint to help with the design. I printed out a template and got to work. It took a while, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Now, for the movement. This is where things got really tricky. I’m no watchmaker, but I’ve tinkered with a few movements in my time. I managed to find a decent movement that could fit the case. After disassembling and cleaning it, I began putting the watch together.
Putting It All Together
- The Case: Like I mentioned before, I used 316L stainless steel to make it. It’s not white gold, but it still looks pretty good.
- The Bezel: Fluted and bidirectional, just like the original.
- The Dial: A simple, bright white. Nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done.
- The Movement: I used a decent replica movement for this.
After many, many hours of work, I finally had something that looked like a Patek Philippe Gondolo. It’s not perfect, of course. There are a few rough edges here and there, but overall, I’m pretty proud of what I managed to achieve. It’s a beautiful watch, and even though it’s not the real deal, it’s still a pretty impressive piece of work, if I do say so myself.
So there you have it, folks. My journey to remake the Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100G-010. It was a long, arduous process, but in the end, I think it was worth it. I learned a lot, I honed my skills, and I ended up with a pretty cool watch. What more could you ask for?
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