Workshop — Kuala Lumpur

Balanceworks is a single-bench workshop that opens the movement before it opens its mouth.

Workshop story

How Balanceworks came to be

Balanceworks opened in Sri Hartamas after its founder spent several years observing a pattern in the trade: watches were returned to owners without explanation. The battery had been changed, the crown was working, but the customer had no idea what had been examined, what had been found, or what the movement's condition was at handover. That seemed like an incomplete service.

The workshop was set up around a single operating principle — every watch that arrives at the bench gets a written entry, and every watch that leaves gets a written summary. Not a printed sticker on the back, but a ledger entry: the calibre, the work carried out, any observations made during disassembly, and the timing result at regulation.

The choice to work on one watch at a time was not a marketing position. It came from watching what happened when a bench carried twelve jobs simultaneously — the careful work suffered, and small details were missed. Balanceworks keeps the intake queue deliberate so that the watch currently on the bench receives the attention it was brought in for.

The workshop is located at Plaza Damas in Sri Hartamas and has been receiving watches there since 2019. Walk-ins are welcome during workshop hours.

Mission

"To service watches in a way that the owner understands — with a written account of what was found and what was done."

Workshop facts

Established 2019
Plaza Damas, KL
Every job ledger-recorded
Single-bench operation

The people

Workshop team

Ahmad Hafizi

Lead Watchmaker

Ahmad trained at a Swiss-affiliated school and has worked on movements from the mid-nineteenth century onward. He handles all bench disassembly and regulation work at Balanceworks.

Siti Rahayu

Ledger & Client Intake

Siti manages all client communications, intake records, and ledger documentation. She is the first point of contact for enquiries and walk-ins, and ensures every handover entry is complete before a watch leaves the counter.

Lim Wei Xian

Movement Cleaning & Parts

Wei Xian operates the ultrasonic cleaning equipment and manages the parts inventory. He also photographs movements at intake for the heirloom conservation record.

Standards

How the workshop conducts its work

Written intake and handover

No watch is accepted without a written intake note. No watch is returned without a completed service summary. The owner always knows what happened at the bench.

Ultrasonic cleaning equipment

All movement components are cleaned in a multi-stage ultrasonic process before lubrication. The workshop does not skip cleaning steps to reduce turnaround time.

Timing machine verification

Movements are measured on a timing machine after regulation. The rate result — in seconds per day — appears in the service ledger entry so it can be compared at a future service.

Photographic record for heirlooms

Conservation intakes include photographs of the case, dial, hands, and movement taken before work begins. These form part of the permanent ledger record for that watch.

Original parts returned

Replaced components from pocket watch and conservation services are bagged, labelled with the job reference, and returned to the owner alongside the watch.

Client data handled carefully

Contact information collected at intake is used only for communication about the watch. It is not shared with third parties. Ledger records are kept securely on premises.

About watch repair in Kuala Lumpur

Balanceworks and the practice of watchmaking in Malaysia

Watch servicing in Malaysia has traditionally concentrated on replacement rather than restoration — a cracked mainspring would mean a new movement rather than new mainspring stock. Balanceworks takes the opposite position: where original parts can be sourced and fitted, they are. Where they cannot, the customer is told which substitute was used and why.

The workshop works across a range of movement types. Battery-powered quartz movements are serviced alongside manual-wind and pocket watch calibres. The common thread is that each receives the same documentation — a written record that travels with the watch and persists as a reference for whoever services it next.

Heirloom conservation is a distinct category of work at Balanceworks. Watches that arrive with family significance are handled differently from trade pieces — their originality is treated as something worth preserving, and no decision that affects it is taken without the owner's knowledge. The intake assessment gives the customer the information they need to make that decision themselves.

The workshop is situated in Plaza Damas, a location that has served the Sri Hartamas community since the early 2000s. Customers travelling from Petaling Jaya, Bangsar, or Mont Kiara will find parking in the Plaza Damas carpark and the workshop on the third floor of the residential block.

Contact the workshop

A watch can be submitted for assessment before any work is agreed.

Reach the workshop by phone, email, or in person during business hours.

Submit an Enquiry