One afternoon. Real bench, real tools, real movement. Choose from over a million combinations of case, dial, hands and bezel — and walk out wearing a working timepiece you assembled yourself.
Most "build your own watch" experiences are mail-order kits with an instruction sheet. We do it differently. You sit at a real workbench in Surry Hills, with real tools, beside someone who knows how every movement we offer comes together.
You'll choose your build the way a watchmaker would: case first, then movement, then dial, hands, crown, bezel, strap. By the time you walk out, you'll know what makes a balance wheel oscillate, why a hairspring matters, and how to set a perfectly aligned hour hand on the very first try.
And the watch on your wrist will be the proof.
The workhorse Seiko movement. Self-winding, hackable, with a date complication. Beginner-friendly. The perfect first build.
The NH35's busier sibling. Adds a day complication beside the date — a full at-a-glance calendar. Same beat, same reliability, more information on the wrist.
NH35's no-date cousin. No window, no clutter — perfect for dressy or skeleton-style builds where the dial does the talking. A purist's first choice.
A shorter, slimmer cousin to the NH35, often paired with rotating bezels. Great for sport-watch builds and dive-style cases.
A skeletonised movement. The gear train and balance wheel are visible through the dial. The most striking of the five. Slightly more advanced.
"Cases, dials, hands, bezels, crowns and straps. Every build is yours alone — no two students leave with the same watch."
Coffee, settling in, an introduction to your movement and the anatomy of a watch.
Walk our parts library. Choose your case, dial, hands, crown, bezel and strap.
Movement, dial, hands, casing. Each step demonstrated, then guided. We don't skip ahead.
Set the time, regulate the movement, confirm everything keeps time on a timegrapher.
Wrist shots, paperwork, your care guide and a glass of something to celebrate.
Corporate workshops & private bookings available for groups of 4+. Get in touch.
The Modding Bench is run by Ash, who has personally assembled over twenty custom watches across the Seiko NH35, NH36, NH38, NH05 and NH70 ecosystems. She knows the parts, knows the pitfalls, and knows how to walk a first-time builder through every step without making it feel like an exam.
It's a craft normally taught behind closed doors, by men, to men. The Modding Bench is something else.
None at all. Most of our students have never opened a watch before. We provide every tool you need and walk you through each step. If you can hold a pair of tweezers steady, you can build a watch.
Standard classes run about 3.5–4 hours. Premium builds with a bezel or skeleton movement take 4–5 hours. We don't rush — the goal is for you to leave with a watch you trust.
You won't be the first. Most builds involve at least one rebuild step — that's part of the craft. Every class includes one rebuild attempt at no extra cost. If a part is genuinely damaged, we replace it at our cost.
Yes. We test every finished watch on a timegrapher before you leave, regulate it if needed, and confirm it's running within spec. Most of our builds settle within ±10 seconds per day after a regulation pass.
Everything. The movement, case, dial, hands, crown, strap, all tools, instruction, and the watch itself to take home. There are no hidden parts fees. Premium-tier builds also include a second strap and a small care kit.
Yes. Vouchers are available for any tier and never expire. Email [email protected] for details.
We run classes from a workshop in Surry Hills, Sydney. The full address is shared with you after booking. We're a short walk from Central Station and Crown Street.
We're opening doors in Surry Hills soon. Join the waitlist for early-bird pricing, first pick of class dates, and behind-the-scenes content as we set up the studio.