Man, I’ve been on this kick lately, trying to recreate some classic watch designs. You know, just as a hobby, not trying to sell anything fake or whatever. So, I decided to tackle the Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse, specifically the 5738R model. This thing’s a beauty, but it’s way out of my league in terms of price.
First off, I started digging around for any info I could find on this watch. Found out it’s got this rose gold case, which looks amazing, and a black dial. And the bracelet? Forget about it. It’s like a chain, made up of over 300 tiny, hand-polished links. I’m no watchmaker, so I knew a full-on replica wasn’t gonna happen. But I figured I could try to capture the vibe.
I found an old watch I had lying around. It wasn’t an ellipse, more like a rounded rectangle. I got some rose gold paint and went to town on the case and the bracelet, I even tried to paint a black sunburst effect on the dial. Used a toothpick to add some gold-colored hour markers. It was messy, but it was starting to resemble the Golden Ellipse, at least to my untrained eye.
Next up, the bracelet. This was the real challenge. I couldn’t make anything like the original, so I got creative. I took apart an old necklace and used the links to create a makeshift bracelet. It wasn’t pretty, but it had that chain-like look I was going for. I attached it to the watch case, and voila, my “Golden Ellipse” was born.
- First, painted the case and old bracelet rose gold.
- Second, painted the dial black with a sunburst effect.
- Third, used a toothpick to add gold-colored hour markers.
- Fourth, used an old necklace to create a chain-like bracelet.
It’s definitely not a Patek Philippe, but it’s got a similar feel. This whole thing took me a couple of days, working on and off. It was fun, though. Made me appreciate the craftsmanship of the real deal. You know, Patek Philippe makes like 50,000 watches a year, and even their basic models take nine months to finish. That’s some serious dedication. This project really highlighted the differences between a hand-crafted luxury watch and my little DIY project.
I saw a documentary a while back about a limited edition Patek Philippe that sold for $6.5 million. Crazy, right? It made my little project seem even more like a toy, but hey, it was a fun experiment. Now I’ve got this unique watch that reminds me of the Golden Ellipse. I might try another model next. Maybe something with a simpler design, haha.
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