Tempora workshop

Chiang Mai · Est. 2011

A workshop built on patience and respect for the craft.

Tempora is a watch repair and servicing workshop on Nimmanhaemin Road. Every piece that comes through the door is treated with the same steady attention, regardless of make or value.

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Our Story

Where Tempora came from

Tempora was founded in 2011 by Khun Atthapol Charoenwong, a watchmaker who had spent a decade learning the trade in workshops across Switzerland and Japan before returning to Chiang Mai. The name — from the Latin for "times" — was chosen quietly, without ceremony. It felt right for a place whose work is fundamentally about preserving the relationship between a mechanical object and the passing of time.

The workshop opened in a modest shophouse on the edge of the Nimman neighbourhood. Word spread gradually, the way it tends to for small businesses that don't advertise much but do the work well. Within a few years, the majority of enquiries were arriving through personal recommendation — a pattern that has held ever since.

Today, Tempora handles three main areas of work: routine servicing and adjustment for everyday wearers, surface refinishing for cases and bracelets, and the more extended conservation of older and collectable pieces. The team is small by design. Every watch is handled by experienced hands, and the service record that accompanies each piece reflects that.

Our mission

To care for watches the way their owners care for them — attentively, without shortcuts, and with full respect for what the object represents to the person leaving it with us.

In numbers

Years in operation 14
Watches serviced 4,200+
Heritage projects completed 380+
Repeat clients 78%

The People

Behind the bench

A small team with specific skills and a shared commitment to careful work.

AC

Atthapol Charoenwong

Founder & Master Watchmaker

Trained in Geneva and Osaka over ten years before founding Tempora. Specialises in complex movements and heritage conservation projects.

NP

Nattaporn Phonsiri

Watchmaker & Technician

Handles routine servicing and adjustment work with a focus on accuracy. Has worked with Tempora since 2016 and manages the majority of daily servicing.

PW

Piyanut Wongprasert

Case & Bracelet Finisher

Specialises in surface work — brushed and polished finishes, edge detail, and bracelet refinishing. Brings fourteen years of metalwork experience to the bench.

How We Work

Standards we hold ourselves to

The practices below aren't policies written for a website. They're the habits the team has developed over years of working on watches that matter to people.

Full intake documentation

Every piece is photographed and described on receipt. The condition record is shared with the owner and held on file, so there's no ambiguity about the state of a watch when it arrived.

Post-service testing

Serviced movements are tested on a timing machine across multiple positions before reassembly. Water-resistant pieces are pressure tested to their rated depth.

Work approval at each stage

For conservation and complex repairs, we present findings and proposed steps before proceeding. Nothing is done without the owner's understanding and agreement.

Correct parts, correctly sourced

We use manufacturer or period-correct parts wherever possible. Substitutions are flagged and agreed with the owner. We don't fit parts that compromise originality without saying so first.

Secure custody

Watches in our care are held in a secured workshop. Pieces are not left unattended outside the workbench or storage. Intake and release are logged by name and date.

Service record on collection

A written service record accompanies every completed piece — what was done, what was replaced, when it was tested, and what to monitor going forward.

Our Expertise

Watch repair in Chiang Mai — a craft we take seriously

Mechanical watch servicing requires a specific kind of patience. A movement can hold several hundred individual components, and the condition of each one affects the performance of the whole. At Tempora, we approach every service as a complete assessment rather than a targeted fix — because issues in a watch rarely travel alone.

Chiang Mai's climate adds its own considerations. Humidity, temperature variation, and the mix of environments a watch moves through in daily life in Thailand all affect how lubricants perform and how seals age. Our servicing reflects this local context rather than following a generic schedule from a colder, drier part of the world.

Heritage and collectable pieces require a different frame entirely. The goal is not to make an old watch look or perform like a new one, but to stabilise it, keep it running as it was designed to run, and preserve what makes it worth keeping. We're cautious with irreversible steps, and we document every decision.

Surface refinishing, when done well, is almost invisible — which is precisely the point. A case that has earned a few years of marks can look cared-for again without losing the character that comes with wear. We discuss the scope with every client before we begin, because preferences vary and the work is not easily undone.

Next step

Bring your watch in for a conversation

Whether you have a question about what a piece needs, or you're ready to leave it with us, we're happy to talk. A look at the watch costs nothing and often answers the most important questions.

Get in Touch