Career Explorer Installation and repair
Human edge, steady
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.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 45% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -0.3% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $67,230
- Job growth to 2035
- -0.3%
- Openings a year
- 100
- People doing it (2025)
- 1,400
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Test performance of equipment or systems
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Purchase goods or services
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Maintain tools or equipment
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
- Assemble equipment or components
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Cabinetmakers and bench carpentersHuman edge, steady, Index 59, -2.9%
- Recreational vehicle service techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +9.7%
- Rail car repairersHuman edge, steady, Index 85, +2.6%
- Industrial machinery mechanicsHuman edge, growing, Index 94, +17.8%
Also known as: Clock Repairer, Watch and Clock Repairer, Watch Estimator, Watch Technician (Watch Tech), Antique Clock Repairer, Clock Repair Technician, Watch Repair Person, Watch Repair Technician.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.