Would you encourage your children to become Engineers?

I have pretty much always wanted to be an engineer and have never regretted the choice. I tried to interest my children but also supported their other interests. Neither chose engineering but they would not have enjoyed it I think and pursued their chosen fields with fervor. I’m doing the same with grandchildren when they show interest. I try to make it fun for them. I’ve seen young people pushed into careers they didn’t want to be in or enjoy and it often doesn’t end well. But then, I can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to be an engineer :-)

I hope I never lose the knack. 

I'm still playing sports many decades later but its all for fun and amateur trophies - no cash.

Prices have gotten way, way out of hand and for the most part aren't worth it given very few manufacturers genuinely make their own movements.  I wouldn't buy an Omega now, even second hand they're over priced in my opinion.  I should know, I just sold a 20 year old Seamaster for £500 more than I bought it for brand new!  I read that book very recently as well as "The Marine Chronometer" by Rupert Gould, both are very good - a lot more history in Gould's book.

This looks like a great channel, I may watch some of this tonight : )

Nice! Smart move buying one back then. Every couple of years I look at Omega watches but kept putting it off, thinking there are other uses for the money, but the prices keep going up too : ( I think prices are easily double what they were 10 years ago.

It was called "The watchmaker's apprentice', it's on Apple TV but maybe there's a version elsewhere too. 

It's definitely one incredible labour of love to be able to make such a device from scratch. I also liked reading about John Harrison, in the book 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel. That's a really enjoyable book.

What happened to your career as a pro athlete ? 

I like the Dilbert video. My Mum tells a story of when she discovered I had the "knack".  I didn't think anything of it but she noted it. We had a house with no weather stripping and ice would build up around the doorway, sometimes freezing the door shut. I used our Electrolux vacuum cleaner to  defrost the doorway. This machine allowed the hose to be connected at the inlet for vacuum or at the outlet for a blower. I used it as a blower - the heat added by the motor made it a warm air blower. This was long before hot air hair dryers were common.

This is the moment where I have to make a confession: I subscribed to the youtube channel Wristwatch Revival. Not because I'm that much into watches - I don't own one. But it is very comforting and nice to see someone working on these incredible fine mechanisms. Therapy.

I missed that but I have read a lot about him.  Back in 1999 when Omega released a set of watches with his new escapement in I bought one - a bargain really.  The exact same model is in the Science Museum (mine is a higher edition number though!)  His book on 'how to make a watch' where he describes all the processes involved, with drawings, is fascinating.  You forget when you see the pictures, he's actually talking about machining (manual lathe) parts that are a couple of mm long or toothed-wheels that are mm's in diameter with complicated shaped teeth.

I did not try to steer my children. All 3 are now well in their 20s, have finished school and have a job. In different branches. They had clear interests and that's what we supported them in. I would be happy if they went for engineering, and I'm happy now. 

I would not have tried to steer them away from engineering, if it would have been their choice. It's such a great career path.