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.
1,310 people do this job in the US. $67,230 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 10%
- 0%
- 90%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 10%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repair or replace broken, damaged, or worn parts on timepieces, using lathes, drill presses, and hand tools.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 22% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Reassemble timepieces, replacing glass faces and batteries, before returning them to customers.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 21% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Disassemble timepieces and inspect them for defective, worn, misaligned, or rusty parts, using loupes.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform regular adjustment and maintenance on timepieces, watch cases, and watch bands.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 9% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Oil moving parts of timepieces.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Estimate repair costs and timepiece values.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Adjust timing regulators, using truing calipers, watch-rate recorders, and tweezers.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test timepiece accuracy and performance, using meters and other electronic instruments.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Test and replace batteries and other electronic components.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean, rinse, and dry timepiece parts, using solutions and ultrasonic or mechanical watch-cleaning machines.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Fabricate parts for watches and clocks, using small lathes and other machines.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Record quantities and types of timepieces repaired, serial and model numbers of items, work performed, and charges for repairs.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters1% now, 1% by 2028
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic18% now, 18% by 2028
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand11% now, 11% by 2028
- Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers15% now, 15% by 2028
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners6% now, 6% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).