Watch and Clock Repairers
Also called: Clock Repairer, Watch and Clock Repairer, Watch Estimator, Watch Technician (Watch Tech)Repair, clean, and adjust mechanisms of timing instruments, such as watches and clocks. Includes watchmakers, watch technicians, and mechanical timepiece repairers.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 4 of its 15 tasks, and jobs are projected to shrink 0.3% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 1.6% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Precision instrument and equipment repairers”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 9.1 hires for every 10 job openings in retail trade, which employs about 58% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.9.1 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $110,050 | $105,130 to $125,000 | not published |
| Colorado | $49,990 | $49,990 to $91,600 | 60 |
| Florida | $81,850 | $49,590 to $91,290 | not published |
| Maryland | $62,440 | $50,890 to $118,560 | not published |
| New York | $95,060 | $83,740 to $95,060 | not published |
| Pennsylvania | $59,880 | $51,800 to $77,480 | not published |
| Texas | $59,950 | $59,030 to $76,530 | not published |
| Virginia | $80,410 | $42,630 to $82,470 | not published |
Nationally: $67,230. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 4 of its 15 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Reassemble timepieces, replacing glass faces and batteries, before returning them to customers. | Not published |
| Not much | Clean, rinse, and dry timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines. | Not published |
| Not much | Adjust timing regulators, using truing calipers, watch-rate recorders, and tweezers. | Not published |
| Not much | Repair or replace broken, damaged, or worn parts on timepieces, using lathes, drill presses, and hand tools. | Not published |
| Not much | Oil moving parts of timepieces. | Not published |
| Not much | Disassemble timepieces and inspect them for defective, worn, misaligned, or rusty parts, using loupes. | Not published |
See all 15 tasks
| AI + software | Estimate repair costs and timepiece values. | Not published |
| Not much | Test timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments. | Not published |
| Not much | Perform regular adjustment and maintenance on timepieces, watch cases, and watch bands. | Not published |
| AI alone | Order supplies, including replacement parts, for timing instruments. | Not published |
| Not much | Test and replace batteries and other electronic components. | Not published |
| AI + software | Gather information from customers about a timepiece's problems and its service history. | Not published |
| Not much | Demagnetize mechanisms, using demagnetizing machines. | Not published |
| AI + software | Record quantities and types of timepieces repaired, serial and model numbers of items, work performed, and charges for repairs. | Not published |
| Not much | Fabricate parts for watches and clocks, using small lathes and other machines. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 0 of the 15 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 15 tasks fall under 15 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #36 Purchase goods or services
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test performance of equipment or systems | |||
| Maintain tools or equipment | |||
| Purchase goods or services | |||
| Confer with clients to determine needs or order specifications | |||
| Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance | |||
| Estimate project development or operational costs | |||
| Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects | |||
| Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas |
Show all 15 activities
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Disassemble equipment | |||
| Assemble equipment or components | |||
| Repair tools or equipment | |||
| Repair electrical or electronic equipment | |||
| Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment | |||
| Fabricate devices or components |
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for watch and clock repairers specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved in from
of 197 moves in
- 1 First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers Moderate +5.0% 13%
- 2 Construction Managers High +9.1% 7%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 12 Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Low +1.8% 2%
- 13 Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks Very high -5.6% 2%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 1% less than high school
- 22% high school
- 8% some college
- 2% post-bachelor's certificate
- 67% not published
O*NET marks 67% of the answers as too uncertain to publish, so the parts shown don't add up to 100%.
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 16 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 5% less than high school
- 23% high school
- 25% some college
- 18% associate's
- 23% bachelor's
- 4% master's
- 1% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Precision instrument and equipment repairers” · 664 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Precision instrument and equipment repairers”
1 program: Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 1 registered apprenticeship in this occupation (Watch Repairer). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Watch and Clock Repairers” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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