Okay, so today I’m gonna share my little project of remaking the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227R-001. I’m not a pro, just a guy who likes to tinker with stuff, so bear with me.
First off, I started by gathering some information about this watch. This Patek Philippe Calatrava is a 39mm one, which is a pretty good size, not too flashy. It comes with a brown alligator strap, which sounds fancy. And it’s powered by a self-winding caliber 324 movement, whatever that means.
I got my hands on some basic specs, like the diameter is 27 mm and the thickness is 3.3 mm. It’s made up of 212 parts and has 30 jewels. I also found out that the movement itself has a thickness of 2.55 mm and is made up of 164 parts. Man, that’s a lot of tiny pieces!
So, I started breaking down the watch I had, trying to figure out how everything fits together. The rose gold case is about 39 mm, which is what I was aiming for. I carefully took apart the movement, piece by piece. It was a pain, but I labeled everything so I wouldn’t get lost later.
Next, I tried to replicate each part. I used some tools and materials I had lying around. I made some mold, and made some of the bigger parts. Getting the measurements right was tough, especially with those tiny parts. I messed up a few times, ngl, but eventually, I got something that looked kinda like the original. Then, I tried to recreate some of those 212 parts, it’s crazy how many little things are in this watch.
Putting it all back together was like solving a super complicated puzzle. I followed the steps I had noted down earlier and, slowly but surely, the watch started to take shape. It’s a self-winding watch, which means it winds itself as you wear it. I tried to copy the original movement mechanism as closely as possible.
After a lot of trial and error, I finally had my own version of the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227R-001. It’s not perfect, and it definitely doesn’t have that $44K+ price tag, but it’s mine. I even found some info online saying a new one with the original box and papers goes for around $32K, which is wild.
Here’s what I learned from this whole thing:
- Patience is key: Taking things slow and not rushing helped a lot.
- Measure twice, cut once: Getting the sizes right is super important.
- It’s okay to mess up: I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from them.
So, that’s my story of remaking a fancy watch. It was a fun project, and I learned a ton. If you’re into this kind of stuff, I say go for it. Just be prepared for a challenge!
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