How to become a Watch and Clock Maker
Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 钟表及计时仪器制造工
Also called: Watch Parts Machinist, Quartz Watch Assembler, Clock Assembler
Uses equipment, tools, gauges and instruments to make watch, clock and timing instrument parts, finish them, and assemble and adjust the finished pieces.
Main tasks
- Running specialist equipment to finish metal or non metal materials into watch and clock parts and assemble them into subassemblies
- Machining synthetic corundum and other materials into jewel bearings, shock absorbers and other parts on special lathes and laser drilling machines
- Making rubber and plastic parts on precision injection moulding equipment
- Assembling fittings, parts and subassemblies into finished watches and clocks
- Testing part finished and finished pieces with specialist test instruments
- Making watch straps and bracelets from metal, leather and other materials with specialist equipment and tools
- Maintaining equipment, instruments and tools such as cutters, moulds, gauges and jigs
Ways in
- Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Industrial Automation Instrumentation Technology (460308). Vocational major 460308 Industrial Automation Instrumentation Technology (工业自动化仪表技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Programmable Control System Integration and Applications.
Pay · AI and this job
- Median pay in China: CN¥60,700 a year (2025).
- Middle half: CN¥48,200 to CN¥81,800. One in ten earn less than CN¥35,200 and one in ten more than CN¥102,600.
- This is the figure for the mid group Instrument and Meter Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
- National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
- Guangzhou only: median CN¥61,964 a year (2025), middle half CN¥53,302 to CN¥81,283.
- This is the figure for the minor group Instrument and Meter Assemblers, not for this job alone.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- The census group Instrument and Meter Manufacturing Workers holds 0.03% of everyone employed in China; 41.6% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
- 42.7% are under 35, 51.3% are 35 to 54 and 6% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 35 to 39.
- Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Watch and Clock Maker?
Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Industrial Automation Instrumentation Technology (460308).
How much does a Watch and Clock Maker earn in China?
Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥60,700 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Instrument and Meter Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥61,964 a year (2025).
Will AI change the work of a Watch and Clock Maker?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
- Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.
Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.
Updated 5 October 2026