Okay, so, I got this wild idea the other day. I decided I wanted to try and remake a Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100R-010. Yeah, I know, it sounds nuts, but hear me out. This watch, it’s like, a major piece of bling. We’re talking 18K rose gold, a gold bracelet, and a dial that’s just dripping in diamonds. I saw it once in a flagship store, and, man, I was hooked.
First, I started digging around to get a good look at this beauty. Found some info that it’s called the Patek Philippe Lady Gondolo Haute Joaillerie 7042/100R, and it’s got 78 baguette diamonds just on the bezel and lugs. The dial flange? Another 108 diamonds. Seriously, who does that? I just wanted to see if I could even come close to that level of detail.
Then I hit up some places to get an idea of how much this whole thing would cost me. If I wanted to make it as close to the real deal, it is not going to be cheap! Let me tell you, the price difference between making something like this and buying the real thing is, well, let’s just say it’s significant.
Getting Down to Business
I started with gathering the materials. Now, obviously, I’m not using real 18K rose gold here, not in this economy! I got some rose gold-colored material that looked pretty close. For the diamonds, well, let’s just say I went with some very shiny, sparkly alternatives. I mean, it’s about the look, right? Not exactly, but it is what it is.
The original has a mechanical, manually wound movement, Caliber 215. I fiddled around with some basic watch movements I had lying around. Wound it up, got it ticking, the whole nine yards. The dial on the real Gondolo is paved with 251 diamonds in a circular pattern, plus 12 trapeze-cut diamond hour markers. I tried to mimic that with my, ahem, “diamond” arrangement. It was tedious, let me tell you. But, I got it done, even threw in a little pearl cabochon on the crown like the real one.
- First step was getting the case shaped right. The real Gondolo is 31 x 34.8 mm. I spent a good chunk of time shaping and polishing my stand-in material to get it as close as possible.
- Next up, the dial. This was the hardest part, trying to get those “diamonds” set in a circular pattern and making sure the hour markers looked decent. Let’s just say there was a lot of squinting and a few choice words.
- Then there’s the bracelet. I found some rose gold-colored bracelet parts and pieced them together. It wasn’t easy, but it ended up looking pretty good, if I do say so myself.
- Finally, I put the whole thing together. Case, dial, movement, bracelet, the whole shebang. It took a while, and there were definitely some frustrating moments, but I did it.
So, did I succeed in remaking a Patek Philippe Gondolo 7042/100R-010? Well, not exactly. It’s more like a tribute, a very, very budget-friendly tribute. But, you know what? I had a blast doing it. It’s not perfect, it’s not even close to the real thing, but it’s mine, and I made it. And honestly, it looks pretty darn good on my wrist. Maybe one day I’ll get my hands on the real deal, but for now, I’m pretty happy with my little homemade Gondolo.
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