Watch and Clock Repairers
US occupation · SOC 49-9064
Job titles people report: Antique Clock Repairer, Clock Repair Technician, Clock Repairer, Watch and Clock Repairer, Watch Estimator, Watch Repair Person, Watch Repair Technician, Watch Repairer, Watch Technician (Watch Tech)
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $67,230
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $47,650 – $91,490
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 1,310
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -0.3%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 100
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Repair, clean, and adjust mechanisms of timing instruments, such as watches and clocks. Includes watchmakers, watch technicians, and mechanical timepiece repairers.
Main tasks
- Clean, rinse, and dry timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines.
- Adjust timing regulators, using truing calipers, watch-rate recorders, and tweezers.
- Reassemble timepieces, replacing glass faces and batteries, before returning them to customers.
- Disassemble timepieces and inspect them for defective, worn, misaligned, or rusty parts, using loupes.
- Oil moving parts of timepieces.
- Estimate repair costs and timepiece values.
- Repair or replace broken, damaged, or worn parts on timepieces, using lathes, drill presses, and hand tools.
- Test timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: long-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- Medium preparation
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians
- Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters
$62,620 median · -6.1% projected
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers
$56,210 median · +4.4% projected
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
$46,550 median · -10.8% projected
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
$50,060 median · -6.8% projected
- Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
$52,540 median · -3.2% projected
- Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers
$52,720 median · -15.5% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk