Well, I’ve been obsessed with watches lately, and I’ve always admired Patek Philippe. So I thought, why not try to remake one? I mean, how hard could it be, right? I decided to tackle the Golden Ellipse 5738R, the one they have on their official flagship store. It just looked so classy and timeless.
First things first, I had to get myself familiar with what makes this watch tick. Turns out, this beauty has been around since the ’60s. The original one, the Ref. 3548, was all 18 ct. gold with a blue dial. Fancy, huh? The modern one, the 5738R, is supposed to be an homage to that classic. It’s got a rose gold case, and they say it’s inspired by the Golden Ratio. I’m not gonna lie, I had to look that one up. It’s some ancient Greek math thing, a ratio of 1 / 1.6181. They say it’s the basis for some of the greatest art and architecture in history. Who knew?
So, armed with this newfound knowledge, I started gathering my materials. I figured, since I’m not exactly Patek Philippe, I wasn’t going to get my hands on real rose gold. So I got some rose gold-colored metal sheets. I also grabbed a bunch of tools. And don’t even get me started on the watch movement. This one has an ultra-precise quartz movement. I ended up getting a cheap one online – it’s not the same, but it’ll do for now.
I started by trying to recreate that elliptical shape. Now, they say the Golden Ellipse has these “ears” like the Nautilus, another one of their watches. It took me ages, and a lot of messed-up metal sheets, to get something that remotely resembled the shape. I used a hammer to pound it into shape. Then, I had to figure out how to get the dial right. I ended up printing one out on some nice paper. Cutting that out was a pain, I tell ya. It took me many attempts, but I managed to cut it out.
Putting the whole thing together was another adventure. I had to cut a hole in the back of my makeshift case to fit the movement. Then, it was a matter of attaching the hands, the dial, and the strap. Oh, the strap! I used some leather-like material, stitched it up, and hoped for the best. I used glue to put everything together. I even tried to make it look like the real one by adding some tiny details with a pen. Did I mention I spent hours just staring at pictures of the real watch online? Yeah, it was pretty intense.
After all that work, I finally had something that looked like a watch. I mean, it wasn’t perfect, not even close. But, it was my version of the Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse 5738R. It was a lot more work than I expected, honestly. I now understand why Patek Philippe can take months, even years, to make one watch. They only make like 50,000 watches a year across 200 models. That’s not a lot. No wonder they’re so expensive! They’re definitely not mass-produced. But hey, I had fun, I learned a lot, and I have a new appreciation for watchmaking.
Click to consult