When asked about my interests are, I often reply with "how things work". I cannot say specifically what "things" but, all things in general, covering all industries. It was only natural that the type of work I would eventually find myself in revolved around mechanical engineering. 

However, I have realised that pure, mechanical engineering in today's world is a dying branch of the industry. 

Electronics and mechanics were once very separate competences but, to maintain a competitive advantage today and into the future, the engineer must be proficient in the multidisciplinary area of mechatronics. 

I almost convinced myself that the only way I can progress further in my career was to re-train in mechatronics which, I am interested in.....I found I am just not interested enough.

I have a keen interest in watches though and life is too short for doing something I am only half interested in. Also, I have a feeling that if someone becomes a specialist, in any subject, someone else will seek them out for their knowledge. If someone is only "trained" in that subject, they will need to do the seeking themselves to find that someone else willing to give them work.

 

Unfortunately for me, I am currently neither trained nor a specialist in Horology and as such, was recently faced with a difficult question; how can I make the transition from my current work to become a self-sufficient Horologist? 

The first step was to employ watchmaking as a pastime and secondary means of income, which I am now doing. The time will then come where I will need to stop working in my current position and try to earn a living from watchmaking, affording me the time to focus primarily on the study and practice of Horology.This is the step I am now working towards completing.

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Why Horology?

As with many before me, I have always enjoyed looking at watches and clocks. Observing a fine timepiece invokes a feeling of awe and beauty and, coming from an engineering background, this feeling is exaggerated when seeing the fine and precise work exacted on the movements.

Not long after taking watchmaking as a hobby I was surprised to also find a new enthusiasm for history and, specifically, history as it relates to Horology. I find myself comparing many historical events that come up in daily conversation development of timekeeping devices. Horology is a key facilitator to the progress of  our civilisation and yet, it is for the most part unknown or forgotten. It seems that with most major advancements in technology, similar advances needed to be first made with timekeeping; navigation at sea, railroads and GPS are just a few. If tomorrow, we were unable to tell the time, we would be quite unproductive!