About the Workshop
A Place Where Watches
Are Taken Seriously
Horophile has been caring for timepieces in Chiang Mai since 2009. The workshop exists for collectors, inheritors, and anyone who wants to know what an old watch really needs.
Back to HomeOur Story
Started by a Collector, Run as One
Horophile began not as a business plan but as a natural extension of a personal obsession. The founder, Theerapat Songkram, spent years collecting mid-century Thai and Swiss watches before the volume of pieces needing attention made a proper workshop the only sensible answer. The name — Greek-derived, meaning one who loves time — was chosen with some self-awareness.
The workshop opened on Chang Klan Road in 2009, occupying a small shophouse with a single bench and a set of tools accumulated over a decade of self-teaching and training in Switzerland and Japan. The focus from the start has been on vintage and collectable pieces — watches where the character of the thing matters as much as its function, and where a careless service can do more harm than good.
Today the workshop handles around a hundred pieces a year, keeping the volume deliberately modest so that nothing is rushed. Clients come from Chiang Mai and across Thailand; a number post pieces from abroad. Every job, however small, begins with a written assessment and proceeds only with the owner's go-ahead.
Founded
2009
Chang Klan Road, Chiang Mai
Pieces per year
~100
A deliberate limit that keeps work careful
Our approach
Nothing without discussion
Every stage agreed before any work begins
The People
Who Works on Your Watch
Theerapat Songkram
Founder & Principal Watchmaker
Trained in Switzerland and Japan, with particular interest in mid-century Swiss ebauches and early Thai-market imports. Handles all Museum-Grade Restoration projects personally.
Nattawut Kaewprasert
Movement Technician
Focuses on cleaning, regulation, and case work for Sympathetic Servicing projects. Has a background in precision mechanics and joined the workshop in 2016.
Praew Monthongkham
Client Liaison & Records
Manages all incoming enquiries, condition report documentation, and the workshop archive. The first person you will hear from when you make contact.
How We Work
Standards the Workshop Holds Itself To
Written Assessment First
Before any service begins, a condition report is written and shared. This forms the foundation of all further discussion and keeps the process transparent.
Archival Reversibility
Where possible, every intervention is reversible. We do not remove patina, re-finish surfaces, or alter dial printing without explicit instruction and discussion of consequences.
Period-Appropriate Parts
New-old-stock parts are preferred over modern substitutes wherever they exist. When fabrication is needed, materials and finishes are matched to the original era.
Full Service Documentation
Every service produces a written record of what was found, what was done, and what lubricants were used. The document is yours to keep alongside the piece.
Secure Handling
Pieces are tracked from intake to return. Photographs are taken on arrival. Nothing leaves the workshop without written confirmation from the owner.
Realistic Scheduling
We do not overpromise on timelines. Estimates are given at assessment and updated if anything unexpected is found. No work is compressed to meet an arbitrary deadline.
The Craft
What Watchmaking Means Here
Northern Thailand has a quiet but genuine watchmaking community — collectors who have accumulated pieces over long careers, families who have inherited watches with no clear history, travellers who discover a piece in a market and want to understand what they have. Horophile sits at the centre of these overlapping groups, providing a place to bring questions as much as watches.
The workshop focuses on mechanical timepieces made broadly between 1920 and 1985. Within that window, Swiss manufacturers dominate — Longines, Tissot, Omega, and the dozens of smaller ébauche houses whose movements found their way into watches sold across Southeast Asia. Japanese makes from the same period are equally welcome. Quartz pieces and modern watches are generally outside the workshop's scope, though exceptions exist for significant items.
Condition assessment work is available as a standalone service for owners who want an informed opinion before deciding anything further. Many pieces pass through on this basis alone, and some of the most interesting conversations in the workshop begin with a single watch placed on the bench for a first look.
The workshop is located on Chang Klan Road in the commercial heart of Chiang Mai, a short walk from the Night Bazaar. Visits are by appointment, and the workshop is open Tuesday to Saturday. Owners from outside the city are welcome to send pieces by registered post following a telephone or email enquiry.
Begin Here
Bring Your Piece to the Bench
A condition assessment is a straightforward starting point. Write to us with a description of the watch, and we will arrange the rest from there.
Contact the Workshop