One morning at a bench in Surry Hills. 1.7 million part combinations. No experience needed — you leave wearing the watch you built.
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 eight. Slightly more advanced.
Citizen's Japanese automatic. Slimmer dimensions than the NH-series, finer rotor finish, different parts ecosystem. The other major Japanese mechanical movement for modders.
Quartz timekeeping with mechanical chronograph pushers. Three sub-dials, snappy reset, that satisfying click. The movement behind most affordable microbrand chronos.
Our smallest movement. For sub-36mm cases, women's-proportioned builds, and vintage dress reproductions. Quartz-precise, with the finest hands in the library.
Cases, dials, hands, bezels, crowns and straps. Every build is yours alone — no two students leave with the same watch.
Settle in. Quick 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 time to wear it in.
Classes take about four hours. Premium builds can run a little longer — we don't rush you on the parts that matter.
Corporate workshops & private bookings from $625 a head, groups of 6+. 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.
About four hours. Premium builds (skeleton, chronograph, Miyota) can run to four and a half. 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 builds also include a travel box to take the watch home in.
By card at the end of booking, in full. Your bench is confirmed the moment the payment goes through and there is nothing to pay on the day. Gift vouchers can be bought the same way.
Yes. Vouchers are available for any tier and never expire. Email hello@themoddingbench.com 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.
Our current Saturdays are open for booking now. If you can't make them — or want to be first to hear when we add dates through the rest of the year — join the waitlist below.