Our Company
Work done slowly,
done well
Lestari Tempo was built around a simple conviction: a mechanical watch deserves the same patience in repair that went into making it.
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How Lestari Tempo came to be
Lestari Tempo occupies a shopfront in Jalan Tiong Nam — a street that has housed small trades and skilled hands since the pre-war years of Kuala Lumpur's Chow Kit quarter. The name draws from two roots: lestari, meaning to preserve or sustain, and tempo, meaning time — as much a reference to the watches we attend to as to the pace at which the work is done.
The workshop was established by Ahmad Razif Ismail, who trained in movement repair over more than a decade before taking on independent commissions. His interest has always been in the mechanical rather than the quartz: the escapements, jewels, and springs that translate stored energy into measured motion. He began accepting pieces from private collectors and individuals who had inherited watches they wanted returned to working order, and the workshop grew from there without advertisement — largely by word of mouth among people who cared about what they were handing over.
The space is small by design. We do not run a high-volume operation. Each piece on the bench receives complete attention, and no work is passed to assistants at any stage. This is not a policy we make noise about — it simply reflects the limits of what one craftsman can do well in a given month, and we respect those limits rather than stretch them.
Clients come from across Kuala Lumpur and from further afield — watch collectors, families with inherited pieces, those who have acquired something significant and want it assessed properly before wearing it. We are equally at ease with a daily-worn Seiko in need of service as with a vintage Longines that hasn't been opened in thirty years.
The People
Who you'll be working with
Ahmad Razif Ismail
Principal Watchmaker
Trained in movement service and regulation over fourteen years. Works across Swiss and Japanese mechanical calibres, with particular interest in vintage pocket and wristwatch movements.
Siti Haslinda Zain
Client Liaison & Intake
Manages all client correspondence, intake documentation, and condition photography. Ensures owners are kept informed at each stage without having to chase for updates.
Kelvin Wong Jian Hao
Case & Bracelet Specialist
Focuses on case and bracelet restoration, including surface treatment and water resistance testing. Works closely with Ahmad on heritage restoration commissions where case and movement are both involved.
Standards
How we approach the work
Photographic record
Every piece is photographed on arrival and at key stages of work. Owners may request copies of the record at any time.
Calibrated timing equipment
Movements are measured on a timing machine across multiple positions. We report amplitude, beat error, and rate before and after service.
Water resistance testing
Where a case is designed to be water resistant, pressure testing is conducted after reassembly using a dry pressure tester appropriate to the rated depth.
Written owner consent
Any decision involving parts sourcing, surface modification, or scope expansion is put to the owner in writing and requires confirmation before we proceed.
Magnified inspection
All components are examined under stereo magnification before reassembly. Wear beyond operating tolerance is noted and discussed rather than overlooked.
Secure piece handling
Pieces are stored in a secured location when not on the bench. Client records and photographs are held confidentially and not shared without consent.
Our Expertise
Mechanical watches in Kuala Lumpur — handled with care
Watch servicing is not a standardised process in the way that, say, a vehicle oil change might be. Each movement carries its own characteristics — its own tolerances, its own wear patterns, its own history. A calibre from the 1960s behaves differently from a modern Swiss movement, and servicing it well means understanding what it was designed to do, not simply applying a routine procedure.
At Lestari Tempo, the scope of any service is determined by what the movement requires, not by a flat rate that assumes everything is the same. We begin with assessment. We describe what we find. We propose what we recommend. And we carry out only what the owner agrees to.
Our workshop in Chow Kit is accessible to clients across Kuala Lumpur — Bangsar, Damansara, Mont Kiara, Ampang, Petaling Jaya — as well as those further afield who prefer to send their pieces via registered post. For anyone uncertain about the condition of a watch they've inherited, recently purchased, or simply not worn in a long while, an assessment enquiry is always welcome and carries no obligation.
Ready to bring a watch in for assessment?
Use the contact form or call us directly. We'll respond with an honest indication of what the work involves before anything is agreed.
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