About ARES

ARES Watch Company is a small, five-person American manufacturing brand based in downtown Stanwood. We design and build purpose-built Mission Timers® for professional end-users in military, defense, law enforcement, rescue, and outdoor communities. Our watches aren’t display pieces — they are tools carried into the real world.

In seven years, only one person has ever left our team.
We hire carefully, trust deeply, and treat skilled technicians like professionals.

Why This Role Is Different

Most watchmaking jobs in the Seattle area are corporate bench positions — fixed hours, fixed desks, quotas, and layers of approval. This isn’t that: we’re a manufacturing company.

Watchmaker

ARES offers something bigger and much smaller at the same time:

Autonomy. Respect. High-trust precision work.

You’re a professional.
You know how you work best.
We give you the space to do that.

Your schedule is your own.

This is a hybrid role (~25% onsite / ~75% remote).
Outside of turnaround expectations:

Work when you want to work.
Be off when you want to be off.

As long as the work is precise, documented, and delivered on time, we don’t micromanage adults.

Part-time hours. Professional-level pay.

24–32 hours/week
$38–$45/hr DOE
Flexible, quiet, focused work for a watchmaker who wants independence without instability.

If you’re tired of high-volume corporate service centers and want meaningful, disciplined craft work — this is the role.

What You’ll Do

  • Assemble, service, and regulate automatic Mission Timer® movements
  • Troubleshoot, diagnose, and repair mechanical issues
  • Perform rate checks, beat-error tuning, amplitude evaluation
  • Lubricate correctly and consistently according to spec
  • Replace crystals, gaskets, stems, crowns, and seals
  • Execute water-resistance testing and case sealing
  • Encasing and final assembly with zero contamination tolerance
  • Maintain an organized bench (home and HQ) with tool discipline
  • Document findings, service notes, and QC steps
  • Protect movements, inventory, and customer property with absolute care

Who Thrives Here

You will succeed at ARES if you are:

  • A disciplined, precise technician who respects detail
  • Comfortable working independently for long stretches
  • Calm, methodical, and steady under time pressure
  • Process-driven, documentation-minded, and thorough
  • A communicator who shares findings clearly and professionally
  • Someone who takes their craft seriously — and expects others to do the same
  • A low-drama, high-ownership professional

If you’re a “get in, do the work right, do it consistently” type, you’ll fit in instantly.

Minimum Qualifications

  • 2–5+ years of hands-on mechanical/automatic movement servicing
  • Familiarity with ETA/Sellita 2824/2836 families, Miyota 9-series, or similar
  • Ability to regulate and adjust timing/reliability parameters
  • Clear grasp of lubrication points, torque discipline, and contamination control
  • Competency in basic case work: gaskets, stems, crowns, crystals
  • Experience with water-resistance testing
  • Ability to follow written procedures exactly, every time
  • Reliable communication and turnaround
  • Lives within reasonable travel distance to Stanwood (for weekly on-site days)

Preferred (Not Required)

  • Chronograph competency
  • CW21, WOSTEP, SAWTA, or equivalent training
  • Experience in a professional service center
  • Ability to document and photograph complex service notes

Bench Test & Team Interview Required

All candidates will complete:

  • A practical bench test to verify movement work, regulation skill, lubrication discipline, and case-sealing competency.
  • A small-team interview to ensure alignment with how we work — small team, high trust, zero ego.

Background Check & Fitness for Duty

Because this role includes access to movements, components, and customer information, contracting is contingent upon a standard background check and demonstrated reliability.

Compensation & Structure

  • $38–$45/hr DOE
  • Professional independent contractor (FTE equivalent)
  • 24–32 hours/week
  • Hybrid: 25% Stanwood HQ / 75% Remote Bench
  • Flexible schedule
  • Paid holidays (as contracted)
  • Bench tools & fixtures available at HQ

How to Apply

Send the following to ares@areswatches.com with the subject line:
Automatic Watch Technician – [Your Name]

  • Résumé
  • Short note about your watchmaking/service experience
  • Photos or examples of your bench work (optional but helpful)
  • Confirmation you can work hybrid (Stanwood + remote bench)

ARES is small on purpose. We build tools that matter.

If you want a place where your craft is respected, your schedule is yours, and the work you do actually matters to the people who use it — we’d like to meet you.

Pay: $38.70 – $45.55 per hour

Expected hours: 24.0 – 32.0 per week

Benefits:

  • Flexible schedule

License/Certification:

  • CW21, WOSTEP, SAWTA, or equivalent training (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

  • Stanwood, WA 98292 (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Stanwood, WA 98292

 

 

Apply Now