ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
A Workshop Built on
Patience and Precision
Bumi Detik was founded in Kuala Lumpur by watchmakers who believed that a properly serviced watch — whether a modest daily wearer or a century-old heirloom — deserves the same unhurried attention.
Back to HomeOUR STORY
How Bumi Detik Began
The workshop opened in 2009 on Jalan Sultan Ismail, occupying a modest space that its founders deliberately kept small. They had both trained under senior horologists and shared a conviction: that the relationship between a watchmaker and a client ought to feel like the one between a librarian and a reader — thoughtful, unhurried, and guided by genuine knowledge rather than commercial urgency.
In the years since, Bumi Detik has worked on pieces ranging from inherited Swiss automatics to mid-century Japanese hand-wounds and the occasional grand complication sent by collectors across the peninsula. The workshop does not advertise turnaround speeds it cannot meet, and it does not recommend services the watch does not require.
The name itself — Bumi Detik, roughly "the ground of the second" — reflects that founding sensibility: time is the medium the workshop inhabits, and every second of it is worth respecting.
MISSION
"To maintain and restore mechanical watches with the care their construction demands — and to help owners understand what they hold."
Proportionality
Recommendations are scaled to the watch's condition and the owner's intentions, not to the size of our invoice.
Transparency
Every step of every service is documented. Clients receive a written account of what was found and what was done.
Respect for Originality
We do not alter a watch's original character without the owner's considered agreement.
Patience
Complex calibres are not rushed. If a timeline cannot be honoured, it will be revised rather than quietly missed.
THE PEOPLE
Behind the Workbench
Rashid Hamdan
MASTER WATCHMAKER
Trained in Geneva and Penang, Rashid leads all complication and restoration work. He has been repairing mechanical watches for over twenty years and holds an abiding interest in Swiss lever escapements.
Nur Zahra Yusof
WATCHMAKER
Nur Zahra handles service-grade overhauls and intake assessments. Her background in precision engineering brought a systematic quality-assurance approach that the workshop adopted in 2016.
Tan Kian Wei
CLIENT LIAISON
Kian Wei manages client communication and all documentation. He ensures that written assessments are clear to clients who may not know technical watch terminology.
STANDARDS WE KEEP
Quality & Workshop Protocols
Condition Assessment Protocol
Each intake follows a documented checklist covering movement condition, case integrity, crystal clarity, crown and pushers, water resistance seals, and current timing performance.
Regulated Timing Standards
Overhauled movements are tested across five positions using a calibrated timing machine. Target tolerance for standard calibres is ±8 seconds per day; fine calibres aim for ±4.
Parts Sourcing and Traceability
Replacement components are sourced from established suppliers and logged by reference number. Clients can request the sourcing record for any part used in their service.
Client Data & Privacy
Watch records and client information are stored securely and not shared with third parties. Service files are retained for seven years and may be requested by the client at any time.
Water Resistance Verification
Where applicable, gaskets renewed during service are pressure-tested to the manufacturer's rated depth before the watch is returned. Test results are noted on the service invoice.
Post-Service Review
Before collection, the watchmaker performs a final review against the original assessment. Any variance from the agreed scope is noted and discussed with the client before the invoice is settled.
EXPERTISE NOTE
What Mechanical Watch Repair Requires
Mechanical watches are not maintained by replacement of a battery or a circuit board. They are driven by a coiled spring — the mainspring — whose energy passes through a train of gears to an escapement that divides time into discrete intervals. Every component in that chain is subject to wear, and the progression of that wear determines when service becomes necessary rather than merely optional.
A watchmaker attending to a mechanical calibre works at scales measured in hundredths of a millimetre. The thickness of a pivot, the depth of a jewel seating, the geometry of an escape wheel tooth — each of these has a tolerance that, if exceeded, affects timekeeping or increases the rate of subsequent wear. This is why documented assessment matters: it produces a baseline that makes future decisions more informed.
At Bumi Detik, the approach is grounded in classical horological training adapted to the specific calibres we encounter in Malaysia — principally Swiss and Japanese movements, ranging from postwar pieces to current production. We do not claim specialty in every calibre ever made, but we will say clearly when a watch falls outside our experience and refer it appropriately.
READY TO PROCEED
Bring your watch in for a proper look.
An intake assessment takes about half an hour and produces a written plan you can act on at your own pace.
Request an Assessment