Okay, so I’ve been itching to share this for a while now. I recently did a thing – I decided to remake a Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119R-001. Yeah, you heard that right. A Patek Philippe. Now, I know these watches usually go for like, between $11,000 and $84,000 on the secondary market, the average being somewhere around $24,000. Crazy, right?
But first I had to go deep on the research. Looked up everything I could find about this particular model. This 6119R-001, it’s a remake based on the older Reference 96. Classic design and all that. It’s got a round case, totally polished, 39mm across, and it’s pretty slim at 8.08mm thick. They call these things “complications,” which sounds fancy but it’s basically just about how the watch works and what it does.
Then I started to gather all the parts.
- This was a headache, let me tell you.
- There are 164 of those little buggers inside this watch.
- Finding them all, making sure they were the right fit. That took some time and a lot of patience.
Then, I learned that if you want to buy one of these for real, you’re supposed to go to an “authorized retailer.” That’s how you know it’s not a fake, apparently. The Patek Philippe website had it listed for around $31,443. That’s a lot of money. But I wasn’t buying, I was building.
The build itself?
- Well, let’s just say there were a few late nights.
- A lot of squinting at tiny screws and gears.
- And more than a few moments where I thought I’d messed the whole thing up.
But I kept at it.
And eventually, it all came together. It wasn’t perfect. It’s not like I’m a master watchmaker or anything. But it looked like a Patek Philippe Calatrava 6119R-001. And it worked! That was the important part. I wore it around for a few days, just to see how it felt. It felt good. Like I’d really accomplished something.
I’m not sure if I’ll do it again. It was a lot of work. But it was definitely an experience. And I’m glad I did it. Learned a lot about watches, and about myself. And now I’ve got a pretty cool story to tell, right?
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