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Watch and Clock Repairers vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Watch and Clock Repairers and Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Watch and Clock Repairers Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$60,690
$45,190
Employment · BLS OEWS
1,300
70,110
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
22nd pct
32nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Watch and Clock Repairers Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay $60,690 $45,190
Employment 1,300 70,110
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-1.1%) Declining (-12.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 100 5,500
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 22nd pct Low · 32nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 37th pct · 21% of tasks 26th pct · 18% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Finger Dexterity, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Control Precision, Near Vision, Manual Dexterity, Information Ordering, Problem Sensitivity, Visualization, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Category Flexibility, Production and Processing, Active Listening, Speaking, Troubleshooting, Quality Control Analysis, Judgment and Decision Making, Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, Selective Attention, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Far Vision, Operation and Control.

Specific to Watch and Clock Repairers

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Repairing
  • Administration and Management
  • Mechanical
  • Administrative
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • English Language

Specific to Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Reaction Time
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Rate Control
  • Monitoring
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Static Strength
  • Trunk Strength

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Enterprise resource planning ERP software .

Specific to Watch and Clock Repairers

Specific to Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Watch and Clock Repairers or Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Watch and Clock Repairers vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/watch-and-clock-repairers-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Watch and Clock Repairers vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/watch-and-clock-repairers-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-watch-and-clock-repairers-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic,
  title  = {Watch and Clock Repairers vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/watch-and-clock-repairers-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.