The phrase "work like clockwork" is correct and usable in written English.
It is often used to indicate extremely precise and efficient operation. For example, "The project ran like clockwork - everything went according to schedule and we finished ahead of time."
The quick scene and costume changes have to work like clockwork.
My schedule in the morning must work like clockwork.
These are nice, easy times to remember, and can literally (no pun intended!) work like clockwork for you.
"In an industrial society, we need things to work like clockwork," Thor Muller, entrepreneur and co-author of Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work for You and Your Business, tells HuffPost Healthy Living.
It worked like clockwork".
"Also, the administrative system works like clockwork.
"It worked like clockwork today," said Gordon, who is Rivera's primary setup man.
Creek's last outing was praised in the Guardian as "an intricate machine with hundreds of pieces that has been lovingly assembled by hand until it all fits into place and works, like clockwork".
As Mr. Romney embarked on a bus tour with the goal of spreading additional unease about his candidacy, his campaign manager reflected on a program of systematic alienation that has so far "worked like clockwork".
It's all so brilliantly thought out by David Remnick, an intricate machine with hundreds of pieces that has been lovingly assembled by hand until it all fits into place and works, like clockwork (unlike Jonathan's watch, with its flat battery).
I don't believe we need to do something radical about energy, but even assuming that we do, why do it right now? Do we need to take one of the few sectors that is working like clockwork through the recession — oil refining — and wring its neck by making it pay for pollution "cap and trade" credits?
