I wanted a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711, the classic one. I mean, who doesn’t? That watch is so hot right now, it’s crazy. I tried to go through the normal way, you know, going to the authorized dealers. Big mistake! They all laughed at me. One guy actually snorted when I asked if they had any in stock. He said something about a waiting list that’s longer than my arm, and even then, no guarantees. Another one told me to come back in ten years, maybe. Seriously.
So, I hit the internet, like we all do when we can’t find something, and there it was, everywhere. The Nautilus 5711, all right, but the prices were insane. We’re talking four times the retail price, easy. It’s all hype, and I couldn’t justify that kind of money for a watch, no matter how beautiful it is.
Then I stumbled into some forums, and people were talking about these “replicas.” I was skeptical at first, but then I saw some pictures, and some of them looked pretty darn good. I dug deeper, and found out about this thing called a “PF/PPF hybrid” which, from what I gathered, is like the best bang for your buck. There’s also this other one, “3KF,” that people say will eventually be the best, but it wasn’t quite there yet when I was doing this. Also I found some people said that the ‘5711’ moniker applies to an array of distinct references with various materials, movements, bezels, dials, straps and bracelets. So there is a risk to buy a wrong thing.
After weeks of reading reviews, watching videos, and comparing pictures, I decided to take the plunge. I contacted a guy on one of these forums, who goes by the name “Legend”, and he seemed to know his stuff. He told me that I should buy a PPF first. And I bought a PPF 5711. And he helped me to do some mods to make it look even better. We’re talking about a crown mod, a bezel mod, a dial mod, and even a date wheel mod.
- Crown Mod: This was to make the crown look more like the real deal. The original one was a little off, apparently.
- Bezel Mod: The bezel on the PPF was a bit too thick. Some people said that was a big problem. So Legend shaved it down a bit to make it look thinner and more refined.
- Dial Mod: We replaced the dial with a better one, the color and the finish were just a little bit closer to the authentic 5711.
- Date Wheel Mod: The date wheel is the little window that shows the date. The original one was okay, but we swapped it out for one that had a font that was a closer match.
- Bracelet Mod: I even got the bracelet polished and brushed to make it feel smoother and more like the original. It was so hard to do these.
It took a few weeks to get all the parts and have the work done, but man, when I finally got that watch on my wrist, it was worth it. It is not perfect, but it’s pretty darn close. It has the weight, the feel, and most importantly, the look of the real Nautilus 5711. I can say I did it.
I wore it out the other day, and a few people actually commented on it. One guy even asked me if it was real, and I just smiled and said, “It’s real enough for me.” And it is. I can have it in my hand without selling my home, isn’t it amazing?
The whole process was a bit of a journey, but I learned a lot.
And in the end, I got a watch that I love, and that’s all that really matters.
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