Cost to Rewire a Tonearm?

Hum.

If we are talking $1500, I completely agree with you, Chak.  On the other hand, I would want an experienced pro to do the job for me, if I were to farm it out to someone else. (I can do it myself, too.)  So a really qualified tech here in the US might charge $100 per hour or a bit more, with the wire costing extra.  I think to do the job carefully, assuming a tonearm of average difficulty, might require 2 hours, but of course that is very dependent upon the construction of the tonearm, and if the tech has done dozens of that particular tonearm, then the work would go much faster. 1500 bucks is very crazy, indeed.

Maybe in Russia.

If you pay someone else to do it, you are also likely to be paying a premium for the wire itself.  The Audionote silver litz wire alone, for one example, may cost you more than Chakster's estimate for the whole job including labor, if the tech acquires the wire for you.  My advice is to select and purchase your own wire and present it, along with your tonearm, to whoever does the work for you. You'll probably save a bit that way.