About the Workshop
A Workshop Built Around the Work Itself
Mainspring Works operates from a single bench in Johor Bahru. The method is unhurried, the documentation is thorough, and the estimates are written before any tool is picked up.
← Back to HomeHow Mainspring Works Came to Be
Mainspring Works opened at Suite 5-2, Menara Landmark after years of work carried out on a kitchen table and, later, a converted storeroom. The name came from the part most commonly misunderstood by owners who bring in a stopped watch: the mainspring. It is not a spring in the usual sense. It is a coiled strip of steel, perhaps a metre long when fully unwound, that stores the energy a movement needs to run for days. Getting it right — tension, set, end-shake — determines whether a watch keeps time for another decade or returns to the bench inside a year.
The founder spent several years working on calibres sourced from estate clearances and flea markets across Johor and Singapore before taking on pieces owned by others. That period produced a particular habit: reading a movement before touching it. Taking an amplitude reading, checking the beat error, photographing the state of the dial feet and the cannon pinion before any disassembly. The diagnostic report that forms the basis of every job at Mainspring Works grew from that habit.
The workshop does not take on more than it can do well. Bench capacity is set to match the pace of careful work, and new enquiries are placed in a queue rather than rushed through. Owners who have previously received a quote elsewhere and want a second reading are welcome — the report produced here is their document to take wherever it is useful.
Mission
To carry out watch repair and timepiece restoration in a manner that the owner can read, verify and question — where the cost of each line item is stated, the condition of each part is photographed, and the measured performance of the finished movement is recorded before handover.
Working Principles
- No work proceeds without a written, itemised estimate agreed in advance.
- All replacement parts are identified by source before fitment.
- Performance figures are measured, not described in general terms.
- One watchmaker handles each piece from receipt to collection.
- Owners may inspect their piece mid-service by appointment.
The Intake Process
Every piece that arrives at the counter follows a written intake script. You will be asked: the watch's known history, any previous service records, what you have noticed — rate deviation, stopped state, moisture. The answers go into the job file. Nothing is assumed.
The People at the Bench
Razif Harun
Principal Watchmaker
Carries out all diagnostic and overhaul work at Mainspring Works. Trained through calibre study and independent workshop practice over several years. Particular interest in mid-century Swiss and Japanese movements.
Siti Norzahida
Workshop Coordinator
Manages intake, job scheduling and client communication. Ensures each piece moves through the queue in the sequence agreed at intake and that owners receive status updates without needing to chase.
Aaron Loke
Documentation Specialist
Produces the macro photography sets and bound dossiers for long-form calibre documentation work. Trained in close-up photography of mechanical components; responsible for the final dossier assembly and archive.
Workshop Standards
Instrument-Based Assessment
All diagnostics are carried out with calibrated timing machines and pressure-testing equipment. Results are recorded as numerical values, not descriptive summaries. Amplitude, beat error, rate and pressure hold are all measured, not estimated.
Secure Storage Protocol
Pieces not on the active bench are stored in a combination-locked safe within the workshop. Access is logged. Owners undergoing long-form service may arrange an inspection visit by appointment at any point during the service period.
Photographic Documentation
Every diagnostic produces photographs of the dial, caseback, crown and any visible case damage. Long-form overhaul work includes macro photography of every component before and after cleaning, held on file and provided in the bound dossier.
Parts Provenance Record
Every replacement part is sourced, identified and noted in the service record as manufacturer stock, new old stock, or in-house fabrication. The distinction is never omitted. Owners are informed of the source before any substitution is made.
Written Estimate Before Work
No work is carried out without a written cost plan that the owner has seen and accepted. Line items are separated so that each element of the scope is visible. Owners may accept all, part, or none of the recommended work.
Data Privacy
Owner contact details and piece information are held only as long as necessary to complete the job and satisfy standard record-keeping requirements. Data is not shared with third parties for marketing purposes. The full policy is at privacy-policy.html.
Watch Repair in Johor Bahru — What That Means in Practice
Johor Bahru sits close to Singapore, and owners across the causeway occasionally bring pieces to Mainspring Works when they prefer a longer consultation than a busy service centre allows. The workshop is set up for that kind of work: an extended intake conversation, a written report that travels, and a timeframe measured in days or weeks rather than walk-in hours.
Watch repair covers a range of work that is rarely visible to the owner. A movement that runs at minus forty seconds a day may need a new mainspring, a cleaned escape wheel, or simply a beat adjustment — three very different jobs at very different costs. The diagnostic report is designed to make that visible before any choice is made. Owners who understand what they are paying for tend to be easier to work with, and the work itself tends to go better when the scope is agreed before tools are involved.
Timepiece restoration at the long-form end of the service list involves calibre families that are no longer manufactured and components that must sometimes be made rather than sourced. The dossier produced for these jobs is intended to sit alongside the piece for decades — it records not just what was done but why, what was found, and what factory tolerances were used as the reference for pivot and jewel measurement.
Mainspring Works does not advertise turnaround as a selling point. The queue moves at the pace the work requires. Owners who need a watch returned within a fixed window are advised to raise that at intake so that the fit with current capacity can be assessed honestly.
Bring a Piece to the Counter
Intake is by appointment. An assessment produces a written report you can take away, with no obligation to proceed further through this workshop.
Request an Appointment