Okay, so I’ve been wanting to remake a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5713/1, the one with all those diamonds, for a while now. I mean, it’s a gorgeous watch, but who has that kind of cash lying around? Not me, that’s for sure. So, I figured, why not try to make my own version? Yeah, it sounds crazy, but I was determined.
First things first, I needed to find some good reference images. I spent hours scouring the internet, looking at every picture and video I could find of the real 5713/1. I wanted to get every little detail right, from the way the diamonds are set to the shape of the case. It was tedious work, but I knew it would be worth it in the end.
Next, I had to figure out what materials I was going to use. Obviously, I couldn’t use real diamonds or white gold like the original, that would defeat the whole purpose of this project. Instead, I decided to go with cubic zirconia for the bling and stainless steel for the case and bracelet. I ordered a bunch of different sizes of cubic zirconia online and picked up some stainless steel sheets from a local metal supplier.
Then came the hard part – actually making the watch. I’m no watchmaker, so this was definitely a challenge. I started by cutting and shaping the stainless steel into the basic form of the Nautilus case. This took forever, and I messed up a few times, but I eventually got it looking pretty decent. I used a rotary tool with various attachments to carve out the details, like the bezel and the crown guards.
- Cutting the steel sheets
- Shaping the case and bracelet
- Polishing for that smooth finish
Once the case was done, I moved on to the bracelet. This was even trickier because it’s made up of lots of small, interconnected links. I had to cut and shape each link individually and then solder them together. Let me tell you, soldering tiny pieces of metal is not easy. I burned myself a few times, but hey, no pain, no gain, right?
After what felt like an eternity, I finally had the case and bracelet assembled. Now it was time for the fun part – setting the stones. I carefully glued each cubic zirconia into place, following the pattern of the real 5713/1 as closely as I could. This was super time-consuming, but seeing the watch sparkle as I added more and more stones was incredibly satisfying.
The last step was to add a movement. I bought a cheap quartz movement online since I wasn’t about to try and build my own mechanical movement. I fitted it into the case, attached the hands, and voila! My homemade Patek Philippe Nautilus 5713/1 was complete.
The Result
It’s not perfect, of course. There are definitely some flaws, and it doesn’t look exactly like the real thing. But you know what? I’m pretty darn proud of it. I made this watch with my own two hands, and it actually tells the time. Plus, it looks pretty good on my wrist, if I do say so myself. I might not be able to afford a real Patek Philippe, but I’ve got something unique that I created, and that’s worth more than any expensive watch in my book.
So there you have it, the story of how I remade a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5713/1. It was a long and challenging project, but I learned a lot, and I had a blast doing it. Maybe I’ll try to remake another watch in the future. Who knows?
Click to consult