A Workshop That Does
One Kind of Work
escapementaad opened in Johor Bahru to serve people who take their watches seriously. We do not try to be everything to everyone. We service late-model mechanical movements, and we do it carefully.
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escapementaad came out of a straightforward observation: most watches that need attention are not broken — they are simply overdue for care. The lubricants have dried, the regulation has drifted, a crystal has picked up a deep scratch. Nothing catastrophic. Just the ordinary passage of time working on a mechanical object.
The workshop opened at 38 Jalan Wong Ah Fook in Johor Bahru to do that work properly. We take in three categories of service and we do them well. We do not take in everything — vintage movements, heavily modified calibres, and watches requiring major part sourcing go outside our current scope — because doing fewer things carefully produces better results than spreading attention too thin.
Every watch that comes in receives a written intake note. Every service produces a document — a timing record, a replacement specification, or a long-form service report — that the customer keeps. The work is logged and described, not performed invisibly.
What Guides the Work
The workshop exists to give mechanical watches the kind of attention they were designed to receive at regular intervals. A movement is not maintenance-free; it has friction surfaces that need fresh lubricant, a balance that may need trimming, seals that can be verified. Neglecting that work does not break a watch quickly — it wears it gradually.
We want customers to understand what was done and why. That is why every service ends with a written record. A one-page timing sheet for a regulation job costs us a few minutes and gives the customer something concrete to refer to in three years when they are deciding whether to bring it back.
The work here is measured and quiet. There is no urgency to it. A watch came in, the work was done, and it will leave in better condition than it arrived. That is the whole of it.
At the Bench
Rahman Hashim
Rahman handles comprehensive service work and timing regulation. He has been working on Swiss and Japanese mechanical movements for over fifteen years, with a particular attention to lubrication specification.
Lim Kar Wai
Kar Wai focuses on case work, gasket replacement, and sapphire crystal fitting. His work on pressure checks and case-side cleaning ensures that a serviced movement sits inside a properly sealed case.
Siti Norazlinda
Siti manages intake documentation, customer correspondence, and the service reporting process. Every written record that leaves the workshop passes through her hands before it reaches the customer.
Workshop Protocols
The standards below are not aspirational — they describe what happens at the bench on every service, without exception.
Written Intake Notes
Every watch entering the workshop receives a written condition note before tools are picked up. The note describes what was visually observed and forms the baseline for all subsequent work.
Witschi Timegrapher Measurement
All timing work is measured on a Witschi machine across five positions. Figures are recorded before adjustment and after, and the full dataset is given to the customer.
Manufacturer Lubrication Specs
Lubricant selection follows the manufacturer's specifications for each calibre. The correct oil in the correct quantity matters more than the number of lubrication points reached.
Ultrasonic Cleaning Process
All components going through comprehensive service are cleaned in the ultrasonic bath before reassembly. Old lubricant residue is fully removed, not redistributed.
Static Pressure Verification
After crystal replacement and comprehensive service, the case undergoes a static pressure check to verify seal integrity. If the case fails, the customer is informed before the watch is returned.
Service Documentation Issued
Every service produces a written record for the customer. The format varies by service type — from a one-page timing sheet to a long-form report covering amplitude and beat-error figures.
Watch Servicing in Johor Bahru
A mechanical watch is an engineered object with a finite service interval. The mainspring needs winding, the gear train transmits that energy through a series of wheels and pinions, and the escapementaad — specifically the pallet fork engaging with the escape wheel's teeth — regulates the rate at which the hands advance. Each of those contact points benefits from the right lubricant applied at the right interval.
In Johor Bahru, escapementaad is the workshop that takes that kind of work seriously. We focus on three service categories — timing regulation, sapphire crystal replacement, and comprehensive mechanical servicing — because depth in a narrow field produces more consistent results than breadth across many. A watchmaker who has adjusted the same class of lever escapementaad five hundred times makes fewer errors than one who encounters it occasionally.
The Malaysian watch-owning community deserves access to skilled movement work at home. Sending a watch to Kuala Lumpur or abroad for routine servicing adds cost and transit risk. escapementaad exists to reduce both. The workshop at Jalan Wong Ah Fook is open Tuesday through Saturday and welcomes drop-ins during working hours, though calling ahead is appreciated for comprehensive service appointments.
A Watch Worth Keeping Deserves the Bench
Send us a short note or call during working hours. We will let you know whether we can help and what the intake process involves.
Contact the Workshop