Where can you service your watches in Singapore?

Watch servicing - something we all dread, yet an unavoidable reality for anyone who owns and enjoys timepieces. The downtime of being separated from your watch can feel excruciating, especially if you only have a small collection…or worse, if you’re a one-watch-collection person. But thankfully, modern watches don’t require servicing all that often. Brands like Rolex recommend a full service every 10 years, while Omega suggests every 5–8 years depending on usage and environment. Personally, I’ve only had two of my watches serviced in the last six years - once back in 2019, and again just two weeks ago.

If you’re based in Singapore and wondering where to bring your watch the next time it needs attention, here are a few reliable places I’ve experienced or interacted with.

Thong Sia

Thong Sia is the sole distributor and authorised service centre for Seiko in Singapore and Malaysia. If you own a Seiko, whether it’s a SARB, Presage, Prospex diver, this is where I would recommend getting your watch serviced.

I recently had my SARB035’s 6R15D movement serviced there. I strongly suspect they replaced the entire movement because the winding now sounds completely different, but hey, the accuracy is fantastic. Ten days in and the watch is only 10 seconds fast in total, which works out to about +1 second per day. That’s essentially quartz-level performance for a 6R movement.

A fair warning: the receptionist might not be the warmest person (their Google reviews speak for themselves), but the watchmakers absolutely know what they’re doing. Pricing is very reasonable at $150 + GST, totalling $163.50, which is hard to beat in the current market. I was initially quoted 2–3 months for turnaround, but I got the watch back in under a month. Overall, a positive experience.

For comparison, I was quoted $450 by an independent watchmaker who shall remain unnamed, nearly triple what I paid at Thong Sia.

Also…yes, this was a great excuse to show off my SARB035 on a CTS rubber strap.

Swatch Service Center

When I serviced my Seamaster Midsize 2552.80 back in 2019, the Swatch Group service centre was located near Harbourfront MRT. They’ve since moved to Boon Leat Terrace, between Pasir Panjang and Labrador Park MRT which is a bit out of the way, but still accessible.

Six years later, that serviced Omega movement still performs incredibly well. The Caliber 1120, a modified ETA 2892, is known for its reliability, and mine continues to run impressively stable even after weeks on the wrist. If you own Omega, Longines, Tissot, Rado, or other Swatch Group brands, this is where your watch will go for factory-spec servicing.

IHT Swiss Watch Atelier

One of the more fascinating newer additions to Singapore’s watchmaking scene, IHT Swiss Atelier was founded on Switzerland’s National Day: 1 August 2023. The studio is helmed by Michael Dubs, a Swiss Master Watchmaker with an extremely impressive resume. He’s worked with brands like Audemars Piguet, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Maurice Lacroix, and others.

He specialises in high complications such as tourbillons, perpetual calendars, minute repeaters, and the restoration of vintage pieces, essentially anything that goes beyond regular servicing.

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael and his wife Phyllis at Spring Sprang Sprung in November 2025 and they were incredibly warm and passionate about their craft. If you own a complicated piece or a vintage watch that needs someone with steady hands and deep experience, IHT is a fantastic choice.

Horology Watch Laboratory

Tucked away on level 2 of Concorde Shopping Mall, Horology Watch Lab is a small but extremely capable independent workshop. They’re known for restoring luxury timepieces to their former glory, and their website features detailed case studies of watches they have serviced. Sadly, there hasn't been any updates in the past year, but the existing posts are a fun read. They also offer vintage watch servicing & restoration, watch authentication, case refinishing (depending on model), and more.

If you appreciate transparency and craftsmanship, or if you have an older watch that needs special attention, they’re worth checking out.

When should you service your watch?

While each brand has their own service intervals, there are telltale signs your watch exhibits to let you know it's time for a service. The most obvious sign would be if the watch has stopped running completely or has major damage such as a cracked crystal. Less obvious signs would be if the movement is running slow or fast even after attempting to demagnetize it.

If your watch has no obvious signs of needing a service, then you probably fall into 1 of 2 camps of people. The first would be those who religiously stick to their service intervals, then there are those who wear their watches until an issue like inaccurate timekeeping pops up. Personally, I'm in the latter camp and I don't service my watches until they start having issues.

In the case of my watches, the Seamaster was a hand-me-down from my father and it was in horrible shape with a non-working movement and a crown that had fallen out, thus a service was necessary to get it back into shape; while my Seiko was running over a minute slow per day which prompted me to head down to Thong Sia.

What about quartz watches?

While quartz watches do not need servicing as often as mechanical watches do, they do still require them. There is the usual battery change every few years, but gaskets can also wear out over time and compromise the water resistance which can be rectified by a watchmaker. There are also solar watches such as Citizen's Eco-Drive that require special batteries and capacitors should the battery no longer holds a charge.

Final Thoughts

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from sending my watches in, it’s that servicing doesn’t have to be a dreaded black box. The right watchmaker can give fresh life to a sluggish movement or a tired heirloom, and Singapore has some excellent people for the job. Whether you’re a stick-to-the-schedule kind of person or a “wait until it’s dying” kind of person like me, eventually every watch deserves a proper service. Treat your timepiece well and it’ll keep ticking long after the trends change.