Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a Patek Philippe Nautilus 7010 for a while now. I mean, who hasn’t? It’s like, the dream watch, right? But the price tag is, well, let’s just say it’s a bit out of my league. So I thought, why not try to remake one myself? I’m pretty handy, and I’ve always been fascinated by how watches work. I figured I had the original order, so I would go for it.
First, I needed to find all the parts. That was a whole adventure in itself. I looked up every Patek Philippe shop, called a few, but no real luck, just some useless information about their history and some useless stuff about “the last family-owned Genevan luxury watch manufacturer”, and “world’s most complicated portable timepiece” or something, what a waste of time. But I finally managed to order everything, a real lucky shot. Of course, it wasn’t cheap. We are talking about a Patek Philippe here, so even the replica parts are not that simple to find. Then all of them arrived one by one, so cool to see!
Next up, I needed to get the right tools. I already had a basic watch repair kit, but I needed some more specialized stuff. A tiny screwdriver here, a pair of tweezers there, you know, the whole shebang. After I got everything assembled, I was ready to start.
I started by taking apart a cheap watch I had lying around. Just to get a feel for how things worked. It was a bit fiddly, but I managed. It looked like some cheap ad from a magazine, but it was what I had, I saw something like that in Fortune magazine once. Then I moved on to the actual Nautilus parts. I had seen the Ref. 5712/1R-001 somewhere, man it looked good, but I was here to remake the 7010, so I got my things together, and started working. The movement was the most complicated part, obviously. It’s like a tiny little city in there, with all those gears and springs. But I had ordered them perfectly. I followed some instructions I found on the internet, and somehow, miraculously, I got it to work.
- First, I laid out all the parts carefully on my workbench.
- Then, I started with the dial. I attached the hands, making sure they were perfectly aligned.
- Next, I assembled the case, which was surprisingly easy. Just a few screws here and there.
- Finally, I put the bracelet together and attached it to the case.
The whole process took me about a week, working on it a few hours each day. It wasn’t easy, and there were definitely moments when I thought I was in over my head. But I kept at it, and eventually, it all came together. I took some time to learn about the patented date display, a real headache, but a fun one, and eventually I managed to replicate it.
The Final Result
And you know what? It actually worked! I couldn’t believe it. I had remade a Patek Philippe Nautilus 7010! Of course, it’s not the real thing. I mean, It wasn’t made in some fancy Swiss factory. But it looks pretty darn close, and it tells time just fine. I even managed to make the moon phase work, man was I happy. I wore it around for a few days, and nobody could tell the difference. I even got a few compliments! Of course, I would not sell it as the original thing, I am not that kind of person, but it sure feels good to wear it.
It was a fun project, and I learned a lot about watches along the way. Would I do it again? Maybe. It was definitely a challenge. But hey, if you’ve got the time, the patience, and the money for the parts, why not give it a shot? It’s a pretty rewarding experience. And you end up with a pretty cool watch, even if it’s not a “real” Patek Philippe. I could probably sell it on FARFETCH or Boodles even, but again, I would not do such a thing.
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