Today, I want to talk about my little project of remaking the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5226G-001. Yeah, that super classy, expensive watch. I’ve always been a fan of nice watches, but let’s be real, they can cost a fortune. So, I thought, why not try to make one myself?
I started by looking everywhere online for info about this watch. I mean, I dug deep. Learned that the real deal is made of white gold and has a 40mm case. It’s pretty thin, too, only about 8.53mm. And the movement inside? It’s some automatic Caliber 26-330 S C thing with a 45-hour power reserve. Fancy, right?
The first thing I did was try to find materials that wouldn’t break the bank. White gold was definitely out of the question. Instead, I found some decent stainless steel that, with a bit of polishing, could look kind of similar. I also got my hands on a cheap but reliable automatic movement. It’s not the same as the Patek one, but hey, it tells the time.
Getting Down to Business
Next, I had to figure out how to make the case. This was tricky. I don’t have any fancy watchmaking tools, so I used what I had lying around the house and some basic stuff from the hardware store. It took a lot of trial and error, let me tell you. It wasn’t easy to shape the metal into that classic Calatrava round case. But after a few tries, I got something that looked pretty okay.
- Shaping the case: I used a small hammer and some improvised tools to get that round shape.
- Polishing: Lots of sanding and polishing to make it shine. Not as shiny as white gold, but still not bad.
Then there’s the dial. The real 5226G has this cool textured dial. I tried to recreate that by printing a similar pattern on some high-quality paper and sticking it to the dial. It’s not perfect, but it gives a similar vibe.
The Movement
As for the movement, I just fitted the one I bought into the case. I had to make some adjustments to make it fit properly. This was probably the most stressful part, because I really didn’t want to mess up the movement. Good thing I didn’t.
Putting it all together was like assembling a really complicated puzzle. I had to be super careful not to scratch anything or mess up the alignment. After a few hours of careful work, it was finally done.
The final product? Well, it’s not a Patek Philippe, that’s for sure. But it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. It tells the time, it’s got that classic style, and it didn’t cost me an arm and a leg. Plus, I made it myself, which is pretty cool. Would I say it is as good as a Patek Philippe Calatrava 5226G-001? No way. But was this a fun project? Absolutely.
I wore it out a couple of times, and no one even noticed it wasn’t the real deal. Or maybe they were just being polite. Either way, I’m pretty proud of my little homemade watch. I learned a ton about watches and had a blast doing it. Maybe I’ll try making another one someday.
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