About the Workshop
A Small Workshop, Working With Attention
Waktu Mutiara has been attending to watches in Johor Bahru since 2009. The work is unhurried, the advice is honest, and the care given to each piece is the same regardless of its age or origin.
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How Waktu Mutiara Came to Be
Waktu Mutiara — which translates loosely as "pearl time" — opened in 2009 on Jalan Wong Ah Fook after its founder, a watchmaker trained in classical Swiss movement service, returned to Johor from a decade abroad. The name was chosen with care: a pearl forms slowly, under steady attention, and it cannot be hurried. The same is true of a well-serviced watch.
The workshop began with a single bench and a small but loyal group of clients who passed on the address by word of mouth. Over the following years, the reputation for honest assessments and careful work brought in watches of all kinds — from the everyday quartz worn by a schoolteacher to the inherited Omega passed down through a family in Johor Bahru for three generations.
Today, the workshop remains deliberately small. We do not take on more work than can be done well. Every watch is handled by the same person who speaks with you at the counter, and nothing leaves the workshop without a settling period and a final check.
Our Mission
Attending to Watches With the Care They Are Owed
A mechanical watch is a precise and personal object. When it stops keeping good time, or when years of wear have dulled the case and clouded the crystal, it deserves to be attended to by someone who understands how it works and respects what it represents to its owner.
Our mission is straightforward: to offer watch repair that is thorough, transparent, and paced correctly. We do not cut steps. We do not recommend work that is not needed. We communicate clearly at every stage, and we return each piece in better condition than we received it.
15+
Years in Johor Bahru
1,800+
Watches serviced
3
Core services offered
94%
Clients who return
The People
Those Who Look After Your Watch
Radzuan Ariffin
Principal Watchmaker
Trained in movement service over twelve years in Switzerland and returned to Johor Bahru to open Waktu Mutiara in 2009. Handles all mechanical and automatic overhauls personally.
Lim Kai Wen
Case & Restoration Specialist
Joined the workshop in 2014 after working in jewellery finishing. Attends to all case refinishing, crystal work, and dial restoration, with a particular care for sentimental and vintage pieces.
Nurul Farida
Client Liaison
The first point of contact for most clients. Nurul coordinates assessments, communicates timelines, and ensures that nothing leaves without a final check and the client's understanding.
How We Work
Standards We Hold to Without Exception
One Craftsperson Per Watch
Each watch is handled by one person from intake to return. No work is divided between technicians or handed off part-way through.
Ultrasonic Cleaning
Disassembled movement parts are cleaned ultrasonically before re-lubrication — the same process used in Swiss service centres, not a shortcut.
Timing Observation Period
After reassembly, each mechanical movement runs on a timing machine and is observed over several days before the watch is returned to the client.
Pressure Testing
Water-resistance services are confirmed with a pressure test before collection. We do not rely on visual inspection alone to verify a seal.
Written Condition Records
Overhaul clients receive a written note on the movement's condition before and after service — a record to keep alongside the watch.
Secure Handling
Every watch in the workshop is tagged, logged, and stored securely. Nothing sits unattended on an open bench, and access to the workshop is restricted.
Watch Repair in Johor Bahru — A Workshop Built on Craft
Mechanical and automatic watches require periodic service to remain in good running order. Lubricants applied during manufacture or a previous overhaul dry and thicken over time, increasing friction between moving parts and affecting the accuracy of the movement. A full service — disassembly, cleaning, re-lubrication, and regulated timing — restores the movement to the condition it requires for steady, reliable running.
At Waktu Mutiara, this work is performed by a watchmaker who trained in classical Swiss movement service. The methods used here are the same as those found in independent repair workshops in Switzerland, Germany, and Japan — thorough, unhurried, and applied with an understanding of what each calibre requires.
Johor Bahru's climate — warm and humid year-round — places particular demands on watches. Gaskets degrade more quickly, and condensation can find its way into cases that are no longer properly sealed. Water-resistance restoration is a service we carry out frequently here, and we take it seriously: a pressure test after gasket replacement is not optional, it is how we verify the work has been done correctly.
Come and See Us
We Are Happy to Look at a Watch Before You Commit to Anything
Bring the watch in during opening hours, and we will give you an honest assessment at no charge. If you would prefer to reach out first, we welcome messages by phone or email.
Make an Enquiry