§ 01 — About the Workshop
Repair as a Considered Practice
Chimely was opened to provide unhurried, technically sound work on mechanical timepieces in Bangkok. Not volume. Not speed. Careful attention to each piece.
← Back to Homepage§ 02 — Our Story
How Chimely Came to Be
Chimely grew from a decade of working on other people's watches before deciding that the constraints of a larger commercial workshop — the throughput, the standardised procedures, the pressure to turn pieces around quickly — were not compatible with the kind of work worth doing.
The workshop opened in Khlong San with a deliberate limit on the number of pieces accepted at any one time. That limit remains in place today. It exists not as a marketing device but as a practical expression of how careful work happens: you cannot attend to twelve pieces simultaneously and attend to any of them well.
The name Chimely takes its tone from the repeater complication — a chiming mechanism on a cushion, soft and resonant. It is an image that suits the workshop: something that makes its presence known quietly, and is the better for not being hurried.
§ 03 — Mission
What We Are Here to Do
The work here is to bring mechanical watches back to good running condition while preserving what is worth preserving. That means resisting the temptation to refinish when cleaning would do, and resisting the urge to replace when fitting would serve. A watch with original patina and a dial that has aged honestly is more interesting than one that has been buffed back to factory spec.
This approach asks more of the repair process — colour matching, careful disassembly, hand-fitting of parts — and more time. But for an owner who cares about the piece, that care is worth having.
12+
Years of bench work
3
Specialist services offered
1
Piece at a time, always
BKK
Based in Bangkok, TH
§ 04 — The People
Who Works Here
Nattapong Khamsin
Founder & Lead Watchmaker
Trained initially in Geneva and later through independent study of antique pocket movements. Carries out all assessment, restoration, and regulation work personally.
Sirapa Wattana
Dial & Surface Specialist
Handles all dial refinishing and colour-matching work. Background in fine arts and applied to watchwork over seven years of practice.
Preeya Charoenwong
Client Liaison
Manages enquiries, written assessments, and scheduling. Ensures each owner has a clear picture of what is proposed before any work begins.
§ 05 — Standards
How Work is Conducted
Written Assessment Before Work
Every piece receives a written condition report prior to any repair. This document outlines the proposed scope and cost and must be agreed upon before the bench work begins.
Loupe and Microscope Inspection
All movements and surfaces are examined under magnification before assessment. No detail affecting the scope of work is missed at this stage.
Regulation Across Positions
After restoration work, movements are regulated in multiple positions to verify consistent timekeeping before the piece is returned to its owner.
Original Parts Retained Where Possible
Replaced or displaced components are retained and returned to the owner with the piece. Originality matters for provenance and future service.
Secure Storage During Repair
All pieces in the workshop are stored in individually labelled, locked conditions. No piece is left unattended on an open bench.
Progress Communication
For longer restorations, owners receive periodic updates on progress. If anything arises that was not anticipated in the assessment, you are contacted before work continues.
§ 06 — Expertise
The Practice of Fine Watch Repair
Mechanical watches are among the more demanding objects to repair well. A movement can contain over two hundred parts, each machined to tolerances of a few microns. The work of returning such a movement to good running condition — particularly when it is old, complicated, or both — draws on accumulated technical knowledge, manual precision, and a familiarity with how individual calibres behave.
Crystal and surface work, while less invasive, carries its own demands. Polishing acrylic or mineral crystal without introducing distortion requires knowledge of the material and a patient hand. Dial refinishing, where the aim is to restore an aged surface without erasing its character, asks for an understanding of pigment, patina, and the difference between what should be removed and what should be kept.
Pocket watch restoration and complication work are the longest and most demanding services offered here. A striking repeater, for example, may require disassembly of its mechanism station by station, with parts cleaned, inspected, adjusted, and refitted in sequence. This cannot be rushed without risking the integrity of the movement. The eight-to-twelve week turnaround quoted for this service is not a reflection of workshop capacity — it is a reflection of how long this work properly takes.
Chimely takes on work in Bangkok from owners across Thailand and from those visiting the city who carry a piece worth attending to. The workshop is in Khlong San, accessible from central Bangkok, and accepts pieces by appointment.
§ 07 — Next Step
Bring a Piece to the Workbench
If you have a watch that needs attention, the first step is a conversation. Describe the piece and what concerns you, and we will advise whether a visit is worthwhile.
Get in Touch