Alright, guys, so I’ve been wanting to remake a Patek Philippe Nautilus 7011/1, just like the one on their official flagship store. You know, just for fun, see if I could do it. I’m not a watchmaker or anything, just a regular dude who likes to tinker.
First thing I did was stare at the pictures online. I spent hours just looking at every little detail of the watch on the official website. The way the light hits the dial, the shape of the hands, the texture of the bracelet. You name it, I was probably zooming in on it.
Next, I needed to find some, you know, “donor” parts. Obviously, I wasn’t going to use real Patek parts, that’s way out of my budget. So I hit up those online marketplaces, you know the ones. I found a bunch of cheap watch parts, movements, cases, dials, all that stuff. I ended up ordering a whole bunch of stuff that looked kind of similar to the Nautilus. It was a bit of a gamble, but hey, that’s part of the fun.
- Finding the Right Parts: I ordered a few different cases, dials, and hands, hoping at least one of each would be close enough.
- Movement: I got a cheap automatic movement. I have no idea if it’s any good. But it was cheap.
- Bracelet: This was the trickiest part. The Nautilus bracelet is pretty unique. I found one that looked similar, but it was a little rough around the edges.
When all the parts finally arrived, it was like Christmas morning. I laid everything out on my workbench and started to mess around. The first thing I tried to do was fit the movement into the case. Surprise, surprise, it didn’t fit perfectly. I had to do a little bit of filing and sanding to get it in there. Nothing too crazy, but it was a bit of a pain.
Then came the dial and hands. I had a few different options, and I ended up picking the ones that looked the most like the real deal. Getting the hands on was super fiddly. I almost bent them a couple of times, but I managed to get them on without breaking anything, thankfully.
The bracelet was the biggest headache. The one I bought was way too big for the case. I spent hours trying to file it down and reshape it, and it was a total mess. I ended up using some pliers and a hammer to kind of force it to fit. It’s not pretty, but it works, I guess.
After a lot of trial and error, and a few choice words here and there, I finally got the whole thing assembled. It doesn’t look exactly like the official Patek Philippe Nautilus 7011/1, not by a long shot. But it kinda resembles it, in a rough, homemade kind of way.
My Final Thoughts
Honestly, it was a fun project. It’s definitely not perfect, and I wouldn’t try to pass it off as a real Patek or anything like that. But I learned a lot about watches and how they’re put together. Would I do it again? Maybe. It was a lot of work, but it was also pretty satisfying to see the finished product, even if it’s a bit janky. If you’re thinking about trying something like this, I’d say go for it. Just be prepared to get your hands dirty and don’t expect perfection.
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