Okay, so today I’m gonna show you how I tried to remake a Patek Philippe Calatrava 5227J-001. I saw it on their official store and thought, “Why not give it a shot?” I mean, these watches are way out of my league, with the real deal going for like, I found it is about $27,456 online. Crazy, right?
First, I did some digging around the internet. I spent a lot of time on watch forums and sites. I was just trying to gather as much intel as I could about the 5227J-001. I needed to get a feel for the details, the materials, you know, the works. That’s the data from online showed that it’s got a polished 18kt yellow gold case and an ivory lacquered dial. It looks so classy.
Then, I started sketching. Yeah, I’m no artist, but I needed to map out what I was aiming for. I drew the round face, the hands, the little dot minute track, and that date window at 3 o’clock. I also made notes about the thickness being just 3.3 mm. That’s super thin, which is a challenge.
Sourcing Materials
Next up was finding materials. Obviously, I wasn’t gonna use real gold. I hit up some local craft stores and found some gold-colored metal that looked pretty similar. For the dial, I found a nice piece of off-white plastic that I could cut to shape. The hands were tricky, but I managed to find some thin metal strips that I could cut and shape to look like the real thing.
- Found gold-colored metal for the case
- Got off-white plastic for the dial
- Used thin metal strips for the hands
Crafting the Watch
Now came the fun part – putting it all together. I started by cutting the metal into a circle for the case. I polished it up as best as I could to give it that shiny look. Then I cut the plastic dial to fit inside the case and carefully marked out where the hour markers and date window should be. I used some tiny metal dots for the minute track, just like the real one.
For the hands, I used some small tools to shape them properly and then attached them to the center of the dial. I had to be super careful not to mess them up. The date window was tough – had to cut a tiny rectangle and make it look neat.
The final step was assembling it all. I carefully placed the dial inside the case and secured it. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked pretty darn close to the pictures I found online. I even made a makeshift strap out of some old leather I had lying around.
All in all, it was a fun project. It’s not a real Patek Philippe, of course, but it’s a decent imitation. Plus, I learned a lot about watchmaking and had a blast doing it. It’s amazing how much detail goes into these things. Maybe one day I’ll own a real one, but for now, this little project will do just fine. I guess I spent a total of about $50 on materials, which is way less than the $27,456 for the actual watch!
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