Hey everyone, it’s your boy back again with another project. This time, I’ve decided to take on something a bit fancier. I tried my hand at remaking the Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119R-001. Yeah, that super classy, expensive watch. It’s a remake, inspired by an old model called the Reference 96. Trust me, it was a journey.
Getting Started
First off, I got hold of some diagrams and info about the watch. Learned that this thing has like 164 tiny parts inside. Can you believe it? 164! And it’s all put together to make this beautiful timepiece. The real ones are way out of my budget, more than my house, so I figured, why not try making one myself? I mean, they’ve been making these for over 180 years, so it’s a pretty historic piece.
The Build
I started by gathering all the materials. The Calatrava has this “Clous de Paris” pattern on it, which is super shiny and intricate. I tried to replicate that as best as I could. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. Each tiny piece had to be carefully crafted and polished. I used a lot of different tools for this, some I even had to make myself. It was a lot of trial and error, but slowly, it started to come together.
- First, I worked on the case. The real one is 39mm in diameter and 8.08mm thick, completely polished. I tried to get mine as close to that as possible.
- Then, I moved on to the movement. This watch uses a hand-wound mechanism, which is pretty old school but cool. I had to assemble all those tiny gears and springs, making sure everything fit perfectly.
- The dial was another challenge. Getting that “Clous de Paris” pattern right took a lot of patience. I spent hours just trying to get the look right.
The Nitty-Gritty
This watch is supposed to have a power reserve of 65 hours. I tested my remake, and it actually ran pretty close to that. It was a lot of work, but seeing it tick away was worth it. I also made sure it was water-resistant, up to 30 meters, just like the original. And the case back, I used a sapphire crystal to show off all the little parts inside.
Finishing Up
After many, many hours, I finally finished it. It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. It looks good, it works, and it’s got that classic, fancy vibe to it. If you ever think about getting a real one, just know they’re super expensive, like $11,000 to $84,000 expensive. My remake? Well, it didn’t cost me that much, but it did take a lot of time and effort.
So, there you have it. My adventure in remaking the Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119R-001. It was tough, but I learned a ton, and now I have a cool watch to show for it. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments!
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