Okay, so I’ve been working on this project for a while now, and I’m finally ready to share the process with you all. I’ve always been fascinated by watches, especially the high-end ones, you know? The craftsmanship, the design, everything. But, let’s be honest, they’re way out of my budget. So, I decided to do the next best thing – I’m going to make a digital replica of a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5713/1, the one you usually see in specialty stores.
First, I spent hours just staring at pictures of the real thing. I found some on this one website, *, where they talk about authorized retailers and official showrooms. I guess that’s the only place you can buy the real deal. Man, they have got some solid wrist presence, especially this one model, the 5822P, all platinum and stuff. Anyway, I used these pictures as my main reference. They had some good close-ups, which was exactly what I needed. Also, I searched for 4K laptop wallpapers to use them as a background, so I could always look at those for inspiration.
Now, the tricky part was getting the proportions right. Someone online said that a lot of fake watches get this wrong, and the hands always look clunky. I didn’t want that. I wanted my digital version to be as accurate as possible. So I used this free online photo editor, what was it again? Oh right, Lunapic. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but it gets the job done. I used it to resize and overlay some of the images, just to make sure I was on the right track.
I started with the basic shape of the case, then moved on to the dial. The little details on the dial were a real pain, I won’t lie. But slowly, it started to come together. I used a basic graphics program, nothing fancy, just something I’m comfortable with. It doesn’t even have to be that complex. I’ve been playing around with these simple programs for years, just messing around with designs and stuff. Like, remember those old computers that had that degraded, lo-fi sound? There’s this audio plugin called Degrader that imitates that. I kind of wanted to do the opposite of that but for the watch visuals, you know, make it look as clean and sharp as possible, just like the real deal.
Some parts of the watch were really detailed
- The Bracelet: Getting the links to look right, with that brushed and polished finish, took some time. But I think I nailed it.
- The Hands: Like I said, I didn’t want them to look clunky. I spent hours just tweaking the shape and size until they looked just right.
- The Date Window: This was another tricky part. That model I mentioned earlier, the 5822P, has this “instantaneous grand date” feature. I tried my best to copy that.
After days of work, I finally had something I was proud of. It’s not perfect, obviously. It’s just a digital image, not a real watch, let alone one from Patek Philippe. But it’s as close as I could get, given my skills and resources. I even tried to copy their commitment to customer service, in my own way. They say they service and repair their watches, well I’ve “serviced” and “repaired” my digital one plenty of times already, fixing little details here and there.
This whole thing reminded me a little of those NSFW games you can find on *. You know, the ones with all those detailed characters? Except, instead of 18 unique characters, I only had one, my digital Patek Philippe. And instead of a harem, it was just me and my computer, trying to bring this luxury watch to life on my screen. It might sound a little silly, but it was a fun way to spend my free time. Hey, it’s better than following Nike and their “Just Do It” stories, right? Although, I guess you could say I “just did it” too, in my own way.
Anyway, that’s my story. I just wanted to share my little project with you all. Maybe it’ll inspire some of you to try something similar. Or maybe you’ll just think I’m crazy, that’s fine too. It is what it is.
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