---
title: "Watch and Clock Repairer"
description: "Repair, clean, and adjust mechanisms of timing instruments, such as watches and clocks. Includes watchmakers, watch technicians, and mechanical timepiece…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/watch-and-clock-repairer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Watch and Clock Repairer

**Category:** Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · **SOC code:** 49-9064 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 49-9064.00

Repair, clean, and adjust mechanisms of timing instruments, such as watches and clocks. Includes watchmakers, watch technicians, and mechanical timepiece repairers.

Also advertised as: Antique Clock Repairer; Clock Repair Technician; Clock Repairer; Watch and Clock Repairer; Watch Estimator; Watch Repair Person; Watch Repair Technician; Watch Repairer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $67,230 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $32.32/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $34,240 to $109,990, with the middle half between $47,650 and $91,490
- **Total US employment:** 1,310
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -0.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 47/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 1,310 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $34,240 |
| 25th | $47,650 |
| 50th (median) | $67,230 |
| 75th | $91,490 |
| 90th | $109,990 |
| Mean (average) | $70,840 |

### Pay by state

The 8 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CA | $110,050 | $99,395 | Not published by BLS |
| NY | $95,060 | $88,083 | Not published by BLS |
| FL | $81,850 | $79,148 | Not published by BLS |
| VA | $80,410 | $79,532 | Not published by BLS |
| MD | $62,440 | $59,490 | Not published by BLS |
| TX | $59,950 | $61,768 | Not published by BLS |
| PA | $59,880 | $61,370 | Not published by BLS |
| CO | $49,990 | $48,509 | 60 |

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 1,400 in the 2025–2035 base year to 1,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 0 jobs, or -0.3%. Declining: -0.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Long-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 45.8% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 22.4% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 21.5% |
| Some College Courses | 7.5% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 1.7% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 1.2% |

## What the work involves

- Reassemble timepieces, replacing glass faces and batteries, before returning them to customers.
- Perform regular adjustment and maintenance on timepieces, watch cases, and watch bands.
- Test timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments.
- Clean, rinse, and dry timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines.
- Repair or replace broken, damaged, or worn parts on timepieces, using lathes, drill presses, and hand tools.
- Oil moving parts of timepieces.
- Adjust timing regulators, using truing calipers, watch-rate recorders, and tweezers.
- Demagnetize mechanisms, using demagnetizing machines.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Repairing — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Finger Dexterity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.54 |
| C — Conventional | 4.44 |
| I — Investigative | 1.98 |
| S — Social | 1.41 |
| A — Artistic | 1.34 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.13 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 88.7 |
| ISFJ | 76.4 |
| ISTP | 75.1 |
| ESTJ | 72.8 |
| INTJ | 64.1 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Timing Device Assembler and Adjuster](https://nuecareer.com/careers/timing-device-assembler-and-adjuster) — median $62,620
- [Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electric-motor-power-tool-and-related-repairer) — median $56,210
- [Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $46,550
- [Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-and-polishing-worker-hand) — median $42,660
- [Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicer and Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/coin-vending-and-amusement-machine-servicer-and-repairer) — median $47,450
- [Tool Grinder, Filer, and Sharpener](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tool-grinder-filer-and-sharpener) — median $50,060
- [Paper Goods Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paper-goods-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $50,270
- [Jeweler and Precious Stone and Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/jeweler-and-precious-stone-and-metal-worker) — median $52,540
- [Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/camera-and-photographic-equipment-repairer) — median $52,720
- [Musical Instrument Repairer and Tuner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/musical-instrument-repairer-and-tuner) — median $46,420

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/watch-and-clock-repairer