International master watchmaker Richard McMahon with over 35 years professional experience as a qualified and certified watch manufacturer and restorer. Trusted official restorer for JLC, Cartier, Breitling and Rolex agencies in the UK. Now based in the Tonsley Innovation District South Australia.
Expert Rolex service and restoration. The best equipped vintage Rolex and Vintage OMEGA service workshop in Adelaide. Proudly independent qualified watch restoration experts.
Micro machining experts, combining technical commonality between watchmaking and medical device design prototyping, building and designing locally, here in Adelaide, South Australia.
Tonsley Innovation District prototype engineering centre and Mawson Lakes Adelaide University design studio and micro machining facility McMahon Micro Machining.
Modern ultrasonic cleaning for high grade current models of high grade watches. Gentle cycle cleaning machines for vintage and antique Rolex and Omega vintage watches. We have the most experienced and best equipped vintage watch restoration centre in Adelaide, South Australia. Precision cleaning of aerospace instruments, medical devices and precision machinery service.
GPS calibrated precision timing equipment. The industry benchmark for watch regulation and diagnostics. OneOF accuracy 2 Swiss machine. Used by Master Watchmaker Richard McMahon for industry best practice regulation and vintage Rolex and vintage Omega watch restoration and service.
Our Workshop – European-Level Vintage Rolex & Vintage Omega Restoration in Australia
Richard McMahon offers a level of European professional vintage watch restoration experience that is exceptionally rare in Australia. For collectors of vintage Rolex and vintage Omega, this represents a unique opportunity to access restoration standards developed at the highest international level—without sending watches offshore.
From Australia to Bond Street, London and back home again.
Richard McMahon began his horological career in Adelaide in 1989, completing his watchmaking apprenticeship in 1994. That same year, he was accepted as an Executive Member of the Horological Guild of Australasia (No. 5120).
After further professional development in Sydney at Clocks of Distinction, Richard relocated to London in 2000, where his career entered a rare and highly specialised phase.
Working on Bond Street, Richard became:
A certified official contractor for Cartier, manufacturing by hand and with micro machining techniques discontinued parts.
The preferred vintage Rolex restorer for referrals from Rolex St James’s Square. Certified restorer.
An official contract restoration workshop for Jaeger-LeCoultre complications and Breitling chronographs at Somlo Antiques, Piccadilly
At the time, Richard specialised in restoring Rolex models no longer serviced by Rolex, including:
Submariner references 6200, 6204, 5508, 5513
GMT-Master 6542
Bubbleback Oyster Rolex
Rolex Prince models
Simultaneously, Somlo Antiques operated as the leading authorised vintage Omega restoration centre in the UK, with rare Omega watches sent from Australia and Asia specifically for Richard’s expertise.
Specialist in Complicated Vintage Movements
Richard McMahon is a vintage watch specialist in complicated mechanical movements, with particular expertise in:
Chronographs
Repeating watches
Alarm and complex calendar mechanisms
Critically, Richard manufactures obsolete components by hand, including balance staffs, winding stems, wheels, pinions, and escapement parts that have not been available from manufacturers for decades. This capability is fundamental to correct vintage restoration and is increasingly rare worldwide.
Bringing European Expertise Back to Australia
In 2015, Richard returned to his hometown of Adelaide, South Australia, establishing a dedicated vintage watch restoration centre at the Tonsley Innovation District. Since then, R. McMahon Watchmakers has expanded significantly and now operates with some of the most advanced watchmaking and micro-engineering equipment in Australia, combining traditional Swiss methods with modern precision manufacturing.
Richard has also worked as a consultant and prototype developer for Swiss watch companies, assisting with complicated movement development and process engineering for high-end luxury brands.
A Restoration Centre — Not a Repair Shop
R. McMahon Watchmakers is not a general watch repair shop. We operate as a specialist vintage restoration centre, focused exclusively on work that most Australian workshops cannot undertake.
We specialise in:
Vintage Omega service (pre-1971 only)
(We do not service Co-Axial or quartz Omega models.)Vintage Rolex restoration (pre-2015 full-size models)
All work is performed in-house, with a two-year warranty provided on completed restorations.
We also maintain one of the largest stocks of genuine vintage Omega parts in Australia, enabling historically correct restorations without compromise.
Advanced Micro-Machining & Manufacturing Capability
Richard McMahon’s restoration capability is underpinned by over 35 years of micro-machining experience, beginning with traditional Swiss and German precision lathes and mills, and expanding into:
Laser scanning and laser welding
Advanced CNC micro-machining
CAD design (Inventor and Fusion)
Photolithography and circuit manufacture
Richard has completed manufacturing and prototyping projects for the medical, defence, aerospace, and precision engineering industries, and works in collaboration with:
The Future Industries Institute, University of Adelaide
The Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF)
Access to clean-room facilities at Tonsley and Mawson Lakes further supports advanced assembly and testing work rarely available in traditional watchmaking workshops.
Education, Mentoring & Industry Contribution
Richard McMahon has spent decades training and mentoring watchmakers, machinists, and micro-technicians, establishing engineering and prototyping centres in Australia and Europe. He is an industry member and technical consultant across medical, defence, and advanced manufacturing sectors, contributing directly to the revitalisation of Australian manufacturing capability.
Rare Experience. Limited Availability.
Richard McMahon’s decades as a certified European restoration specialist for Rolex, Omega, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Breitling places him among a very small group of watchmakers worldwide with this breadth of qualified and certified watchmaking experience.
Today, this expertise is available exclusively in Adelaide, South Australia, offering collectors restoration services that most workshops in Australia are unable to provide.
Due to workload and the complexity of work undertaken, we now accept only:
Vintage Omega watches manufactured prior to 1971
Vintage Rolex full-size models manufactured prior to 2015
Strictly by appointment only. Please email with your name, watch brand and service required and your location on info@rmcmahon.com.au
Watch tester for diagnostics on automatic winding watches. Testing for timekeeping and power reserve on vintage manual wind models of Omega and Rolex.
Latest pressure test diagnostic equipment. Negative pressure test for slim dress models and vintage pieces. Programmable tests up to 10 bar for hard case dive models. We use a professional wet tester for professional dive models past 12 BAR.
Magnetic diagnostic machine for identifying magnetism and the location of the flux. The watch can be demagnetised and then re-checked for faults. This is the modern proven method. Most workshops just demagnetise without knowing the result. Magnetic testing and pressure testing for small medical and defence devices. Quality control and testing. We offer precission assembly services to medical and defence contractors, we have for decades provided complex, clean precision small to medium device manufacture and assembly. We have acces to ISO 5 and 6 cleanliness rated clean rooms if required. We are also experienced at operating in 14644 if onsite remote expert assistance is required.
What clients are saying. Just some of many customer reviews. We specialise in looking after serious watch collectors especially vintage Rolex and Omega enthusiasts.
“Outstanding service, sound professional advice. Thanks Richard”
“Outstanding service, amazing knowledge of watches and watch repairs. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my collection, an absolute professional. I always love to see the the great vintage watches available for sale too, this is the place to start for a pre-loved classic.”