Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · Holland code RC

Watch and Clock Repairers

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

Also called: Clock Repairer, Watch and Clock Repairer, Watch Estimator, Watch Technician (Watch Tech), Antique Clock Repairer, Clock Repair Technician, Watch Repair Person, Watch Repair Technician.

O*NET 49-9064.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $67,230; Middle half earn $47,650 to $91,490. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Secondary Certificate; 46% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
Monitoring2.6 / 5
Writing2.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
Administration and Management3.7 / 5
Mechanical3.6 / 5
Administrative3.1 / 5
Engineering and Technology3.0 / 5
Production and Processing3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic92
Investigative16
Artistic6
Social7
Enterprising2
Conventional57

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

metrology technician · DE Metrologietechniker/Metrologietechnikerin · FR technicien métrologie/technicienne métrologie
gunsmith · DE Waffenmechaniker/Waffenmechanikerin · FR armurier/armurière
clock and watchmaker · DE Uhrmacher/Uhrmacherin · FR horloger/horlogère
optical instrument repairer · DE Feinwerkmechaniker/Feinwerkmechanikerin · FR réparateur d’instruments d’optique/réparatrice d’instruments d’optique
precision instrument assembler · DE Techniker – Feinwerktechnik/Technikerin – Feinwerktechnik · FR assembleur d’instruments de précision/assembleuse d’instruments de précision
watch and clock repairer · DE Uhrenmechaniker/Uhrenmechanikerin · FR réparateur de systèmes horlogers/réparatrice de systèmes horlogers

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Precision instrument makers and repairers (5224)15,800 employed
Tool makers, tool fitters and markers-out (5222)8,600 employed
Laboratory technicians (3111)51,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Craft and related trades workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Craft and related trades workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€40,086
Germany	€38,638
Austria	€38,194
Sweden	€37,856
Netherlands	€37,077
Ireland	€36,098
France	€27,145
Italy	€26,488
Spain	€22,817
Portugal	€11,142
Poland	€10,099

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.21. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (49-9064).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test