Hey everyone, so I finally got around to doing something I’ve wanted to do for ages – remaking a classic watch. I went with the Patek Philippe Nautilus 7008/1, that classic style, you know the one. It’s a beauty, and I figured, why not try to recreate it myself?
First things first, I started digging around for info. I spent hours online, just looking at pictures, reading about the watch, and trying to get a feel for how it’s put together. I checked out some auction sites too, apparently Patek is big there, even more than Rolex they say. I mean the amount of details on this thing is crazy!
Then I started looking for parts. I thought, “Okay, I can’t just magically make these parts appear,” so I hit up a bunch of online stores, and let me tell you, it was a real treasure hunt. I got a movement here, a case there, a dial from somewhere else. This wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Found this one place that sells, like, Patek homage stuff, but it’s not the real thing.
After I had all the bits and pieces, or at least I thought I did, I started putting it together. Laying everything out on my workbench, it looked like a total mess, honestly. It’s one thing to see pictures of a watch, but it’s a whole different ball game when you’re trying to actually assemble one. It requires a lot of patience.
The hardest part was definitely the movement. Getting all those tiny little gears and springs to work together is a nightmare, let me tell you. But I’ve watched so many videos about watch assembly and I finally did it. Also, the dial was super tricky. It’s not just about slapping it on, you gotta align everything just perfectly. Also, there were eight sides of the bezel, they were so hard to assemble! I even thought about giving up a few times, but I kept at it. One time, I even messed up and had to take the whole thing apart and start again. I think I spent, like, a whole weekend on it, but you know what? I didn’t give up.
After many hours of struggle and lots of frustration, I finally got it all put together. It took way longer than I expected, and it definitely wasn’t easy, but man, it was worth it. It’s so satisfying to look at something you made with your own two hands, you know? Especially when it’s a recreation of something as iconic as the Nautilus 7008/1.
Here’s a breakdown of what I did:
- Research: Spent ages looking at pictures and reading about the Nautilus 7008/1.
- Parts Hunting: Scoured the internet for all the parts I needed.
- Assembly: The fun part! Putting it all together, messing up, starting again, the whole shebang.
- Movement: The hardest part, but I figured it out eventually.
- Dial: Tricky to align, but got it done.
- Bezel: Eight sides, man, it was a challenge!
- Success: Finally finished it, and it actually works!
It’s not perfect, of course. There are a few little things that I could probably improve on, but overall, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It was a real learning experience, and I’m already thinking about what watch I want to try and remake next. Maybe a simpler one this time, haha! What do you guys think?
Click to consult