So, today I tried to remake that Patek Philippe Gondolo 4962/200R-001. You know, the one that’s all fancy and costs more than my car? Yeah, that one. I saw it online, and I thought, “Why not give it a shot?” It looked like a fun challenge. I started by gathering all the info I could find. Pictures, descriptions, anything that would help me understand how this thing is put together.
Getting Started
First, I looked up a ton of pictures of the watch. I mean, this thing is like a piece of art. It’s got this rose gold case and a brown, floral dial. It’s pretty unique, not the kind of watch you see every day. And the strap, oh man, it’s this fancy brown leather. I drew some sketches, trying to get the shape of the case right. It’s not a circle, more like a rounded rectangle, which I found a bit tricky. I used a ruler and a protractor, but it still took a few tries to get it looking decent.
Working on the Case
I decided to use some scrap metal I had lying around for the case. It wasn’t rose gold, but hey, close enough, right? I cut and shaped the metal, trying to mimic that curved design. It was tougher than I expected. I bent the metal carefully, but it wasn’t easy to get that smooth, polished look. I ended up using a small hammer and a lot of patience to get it into shape. I also drilled some tiny holes where the strap would attach.
The Dial and Hands
- The dial was the most fun part. I couldn’t replicate that floral pattern, so I went with a simple brown background instead.
- I used some old watch parts for the hands and painted them to match the pictures I found online.
- I even tried to copy those Arabic numeral hour markers. I cut them out of thin metal sheets and glued them onto the dial.
Putting It All Together
Finally, I assembled everything. I attached the dial to the case, added the hands, and found an old brown leather strap that sort of matched the original. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough for a first try. It took me the whole day, and my fingers were sore from all that cutting and bending. But, when I finished, I have to say, it looked kind of cool.
It’s not a Patek Philippe, that’s for sure. But it’s my own little version of it. I learned a lot during the process, especially how much work goes into making those high-end watches. It’s definitely not as easy as it looks. Would I do it again? Maybe. It was a fun project, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. This whole thing reminded me that sometimes, it’s not about having the real deal, but about the fun of trying to create something yourself. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll even get to wear the real Gondolo 4962/200R-001. A guy can dream, right?
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