Paya Lebar Clock Repair Shop With Hermle Clocks: Watch it!

Most mall watch counters will swap a battery and send you home, but few will open up an eight-day Westminster chime movement. Watch it!, at 10 Paya Lebar Road, #03-33, PLQ Mall, Singapore 409057, does both. The shop has been trading since 2001 and says it has more than 20 years of timepiece repair experience, covering wristwatches and clocks. It is open every day from 11am to 9pm, which makes it the easiest clock repair drop-off in the east for anyone working office hours.

The repair page is less a price list than a portfolio, and the clock entries are what matter here. The bench lists a Hermle 340-020 eight-day Westminster clock, a vintage eight-day, 15-jewel Omega clock from the 1930s, and a Jaeger-LeCoultre lamp post clock from the 1960s and 1970s that runs on the Calibre 229 movement. That is a fair spread: a modern German chime movement, a pre-war Swiss travel-style clock and a mid-century novelty piece built with watchmaking techniques.

On the watch side, the same page shows a vintage Rolex Daytona on Calibre 727, an Omega Constellation with Calibre 561, a Seiko Lord Matic 5606A and a JDM Seiko 5126 made between 1967 and 1970. The shop also does modding for Seiko, AP and Rolex, swapping glass, bezels and dials. For a clock owner, the useful takeaway is that the person opening your movement is used to small, fine work as well as big chiming trains.

There is no fixed repair tariff on the website. Instead, the shop asks you to call for information, so the realistic plan is to bring the clock in and let the bench look at it. For a chiming wall clock, a short video of the fault helps: whether it stops, fails to strike or chimes the wrong quarter.

Bring the pendulum and winding key separately, and hook up or tie down the chime hammers if you know how. A regulator with its pendulum swinging inside the case can damage the suspension spring on the way. If you are driving, PLQ's car park connects directly to the mall, which is easier than carrying a long case clock across from the MRT.

Watch it! is also one of the better places in Singapore to buy a new clock in person, and the prices are published online. The top of the range is a Hermle Westminster Chime Regulator, model 71001-030341, at S$1,580, and a Hermle Stamford mechanical skeleton wall clock is S$399. Seiko's wooden Westminster and Whittington chime pendulum wall clock, QXH063B, is S$299, and its rotating pendulum anniversary clock on a wooden base, QXN236G, is also S$299.

The fun end of the wall is the Twemco flip clocks from Hong Kong. The small QT-30 comes in black, white, blue, red, green and orange at S$180, and the larger BQ-17 is S$790. Rhythm's Japanese cuckoo clock, model 4MJ419-R06, is S$650, and Seiko's 18 Melodies pendulum wall clock is S$590. For collectors, a vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Marina table clock with a hand-wound movement, dated to between 1930 and 1969, was listed at S$3,000. The oddest piece in the clock collection is a pre-owned Hublot Big Bang wall clock, 40cm across, listed at S$5,800, which is worth a look even if you are only there to collect a repair.

The stock also reflects who shops in a Singapore mall. Seiko's wooden wall clocks are sold with Arabic numerals and with Hindi numerals, each at S$130, next to a Golden Dragon edition with Chinese numerals at S$135. Twemco's BQ-38 flip clock comes with Chinese characters at S$299. There is even a collection called NS enlistment must-haves, in which a Rhythm beep and snooze alarm clock and a Casio F-91W are S$30 each.

Hermle is the brand that ties the sales floor to the repair bench. Besides the regulators and skeleton clocks, the shop lists Hermle's Buffalo I and Buffalo II world time mantel clocks at S$350 each and the stainless steel Grand Central wall clock from S$250. Buying a German mechanical clock from the same counter that services it means the first oiling, a stopped pendulum or a chime that drifts can go straight back to people who already know that movement.

Watch it! is a good fit if your clock is a modern mechanical piece from Hermle, Seiko or Rhythm, a mid-century Swiss desk clock, or a quartz movement that has died. It is also the practical choice if you need evening or weekend hours. For a Victorian longcase clock or a carved Black Forest cuckoo, a specialist workshop that does home visits may make more sense, because moving those clocks is half the risk. If the problem turns out to be a cheap quartz movement, the counter can simply show you replacement wall clocks at a range of prices on the spot, so one trip settles it either way.

PLQ Mall is linked to Paya Lebar MRT station, on the East-West and Circle lines, so you can walk from the platforms to the third floor without going outside. Once the clock is handed over, walk east to Geylang Serai Market for nasi padang or kueh, or walk south along Joo Chiat Road to see the restored Peranakan shophouses, about fifteen minutes on foot. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a Joo Chiat café if you want somewhere quieter than the mall.

Watch it! Pte Ltd, 10 Paya Lebar Road, #03-33, PLQ Mall, Paya Lebar Quarter, Singapore 409057. Email: watchit@singnet.com.sg. Open Monday to Sunday, 11am to 9pm. Services all makes of wristwatches and clocks; no published repair prices, so quotes are given after inspection. New clocks and watches are sold in store and on watchit.com.sg, with shipping within Singapore by SingPost. Nearest MRT: Paya Lebar.