Okay, so, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a Patek Philippe Calatrava for a while now. This watch, the 5227R-001, it’s just… beautiful. Classic, you know? But man, they are not cheap. So, I thought, why not try to make my own? Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, but I was determined.
First, I started looking everywhere for info on this watch. I found out the original is 39mm across and about 8.08mm thick, with a rose gold case. Fancy! Inside, it’s got this automatic movement, the 324 S C caliber, they call it. Apparently, it has 212 parts and 30 jewels. I dug through websites to get a good look at it, especially the case and that ivory dial with the date at 3 o’clock. And it’s got this cool, hidden hinge on the caseback.
Getting the case right was the first big hurdle. I decided to use a similar rose gold colored material. Not real gold, obviously! I managed to find a cheap, round case that was close enough in size. Then I started working on the dial. I used a piece of white plastic and painted it to look like ivory. It took a few tries to get the color right. I even printed out the little numbers and the Patek Philippe logo and carefully glued them on. Not perfect, but it looked okay from a distance.
The movement was the hardest part. No way I could make that from scratch. So, I bought a cheap quartz movement from a local shop. Of course, it didn’t look anything like the real thing, but it kept time. I disassembled it carefully and managed to fit it inside my makeshift case.
- Finding a rose gold case: This was tough, but I found a cheap substitute.
- Creating the ivory dial: I painted a piece of plastic and printed out the details.
- Getting a movement: I used a cheap quartz movement instead of the real, complicated one.
- Putting it all together: I assembled the case, dial, and movement.
For the strap, I grabbed an old brown leather belt and cut it to size. It wasn’t alligator like the original, but it did the job. I fastened it to the case, and that was it.
The final result? Well, it wasn’t a Patek Philippe. Not even close. But it kinda looked like one if you squinted. And I made it myself! It was a fun little project. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but it works, and I learned a lot. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford the real deal, but for now, my homemade Calatrava is good enough.
This whole thing took me a couple of weeks, working on it in my spare time. It was a lot of trial and error, but I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. It’s definitely not worth $32 like some of the online listings. This is more of a sentimental value kind of thing.
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