Our Workshop
Craft, Continuity, and a Considered Approach
Balance Wheel is a Kuala Lumpur workshop with a quiet commitment to careful horological work. We are not in a hurry, and neither are the timepieces we look after.
Our Story
A Workshop That Grew From a Specific Concern
Balance Wheel was founded by a small group of horologists who had spent years in the trade and found, with increasing regularity, that owners of fine antique clocks and pocket watches were struggling to find workshops that would treat their pieces with the care they warranted. Too often, work was hurried, parts were replaced when they could have been preserved, and the owner was presented with a bill for work they had never quite agreed to.
We set up on Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur with a different working method in mind. Every piece that comes into the workshop is first assessed and discussed with its owner. We produce a written account of what we have found and what the options are. The owner decides what happens next. This is not a complicated system — it is simply how we believe the relationship between a repairer and an owner should work.
Over the years, our clients have come to us from across Peninsular Malaysia and beyond. Some bring pieces that have been in their families for generations. Others have acquired something at auction and want to understand what they have. We welcome both and approach each piece with equal care.
Our Mission
To offer Kuala Lumpur's timepiece owners a workshop where every decision is made together, and where the integrity of each piece is treated as genuinely important — not as a secondary consideration.
Our Values
- Transparency — owners know what is happening to their pieces at every stage
- Restraint — we do what is needed, not what is easiest
- Patience — horological work cannot be rushed and we do not attempt to rush it
- Honest communication — about condition, about options, about cost
Location
56 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur
Monday–Friday 9am–6pm · Saturday 9am–1pm
The People
Those Who Work on Your Timepieces
Razif Aminuddin
Master Horologist
Razif has worked with mechanical movements for over two decades, with particular experience in French and English longcase clock mechanisms. He leads all restoration assessments.
Siti Norzahara
Pocket Watch Specialist
Siti focuses on antique pocket watches, with a careful approach to case preservation and movement cleaning. She also manages client communications and written assessments.
Hamdan Che Ros
Case & Movement Technician
Hamdan handles the detailed cleaning, bushing work, and case preparation that underpins most of our restoration projects. He joined Balance Wheel after a background in precision engineering.
Standards & Protocols
How We Work
Written Assessment Before Any Work
Every piece receives a documented condition report before work commences. The owner receives a copy and agrees to the scope in writing.
Magnification & Specialist Instruments
We work with horological loupes, watchmaker's stakes, and ultrasonic cleaning equipment appropriate for fine antique movements.
Secure Piece Handling
All pieces in our care are logged, photographed on arrival, and stored in a controlled environment. We maintain an internal record of condition throughout the project.
Professional Horological Training
Our principal technicians have formal training in horology and ongoing engagement with the professional community. We keep our knowledge current.
Privacy of Client Information
We do not share client or piece details with third parties. Records are kept internally and used only to support the work in progress.
Minimum Intervention Where Possible
With antique and historically significant pieces, we favour the conservation principle: do what is needed to make the piece run well, and no more than that.
Horological Knowledge in Kuala Lumpur
The history of mechanical timekeeping in Malaysia has its own character. British administration brought longcase and bracket clocks to government buildings and colonial residences, many of which have passed through private hands over the generations. Chinese and Peranakan households often housed European mantel pieces alongside local crafts. The result is that Kuala Lumpur's private collections are remarkably varied in origin and condition.
Balance Wheel's experience covers this range. We have worked on English fusee movements from the nineteenth century, German-made wall regulators, Japanese-made wall clocks from the post-war period, and Swiss lever escapement pocket watches in both open-face and hunting case configurations. Each type has its own requirements, and we approach each one as an individual project rather than a routine task.
If you have a timepiece that has stopped or is running irregularly, or if you have acquired something and want to understand what it is and what it might need, we are a straightforward starting point. The initial assessment is a considered process, and it is designed specifically so that you come away better informed rather than more committed than you intended to be.
Would You Like to Talk About a Piece?
We are happy to discuss your timepiece before you decide anything. There is no obligation in an initial conversation.
Get in Touch