Best degree programs for Watch and Clock Repairers, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 5 schools train Watch and Clock Repairers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $67,230 median wage, 1,310 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 5 schools train watch and clock repairers, graduating 78 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking. The job pays a median of $67,230 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About 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.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 47.0408 | 78 | 100.0% | 5 | $30,986 | $16,687 |
Top 5 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Junior College Paris, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking | 38% | — | — |
| 2 | Pinellas Technical College - St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking | 60% | — | — |
| 3 | Gem City College Quincy, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking | 87% | $13,910 | — |
| 4 | North Seattle College Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking | 33% | — | — |
| 5 | North Bennet Street School Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking | 90% | $35,199 | — |
What watch and clock repairers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Active Listening3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Reading Comprehension2.9
- Monitoring2.6
- Writing2.3
- Active Learning2.3
- Learning Strategies2.0
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.2
- Administration and Management3.7
- Mechanical3.6
- Administrative3.1
- Engineering and Technology3.0
- Production and Processing3.0
Abilities
- Finger Dexterity4.1
- Near Vision4.0
- Control Precision4.0
- Arm-Hand Steadiness4.0
- Manual Dexterity3.5
- Information Ordering3.4
Core activities
- Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment4.3
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.1
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.1
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.0
- Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information3.9
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials3.9
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Watch
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Watch and Clock Repairers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 47.0408Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Watch?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Watchmaking and Jewelrymaking, which awarded 78 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Watch?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Systems Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 78 people a year.
How much do watch and clock repairers earn?+
The median is $67,230 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $34,240 at the 10th percentile to $109,990 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for watch and clock repairers growing?+
BLS projects a -1.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
5 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do watch and clock repairers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Clock Repairer, Watch Estimator, Watch and Clock Repairer, Watch Technician (Watch Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-9064.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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