Couple revives company dating back to 1870s to make old-fashioned watches

By Joe Donlon, Zak Spector

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — It seems that Apple Watches are everywhere these days—looking around, they can be spotted on wrist after wrist.

So it may seem like a brave choice for two Chicago entrepreneurs to launch a company making old-fashioned mechanical watches—when many of their peers wear the new-fangled electronic alternatives. But the entrepreneurs’ mission is bigger than just watchmaking.

For John Warren, it all started with pocket watches made by the Cornell Watch Company on Chicago’s South Side in the 1870s.

“The original Cornell Watch Company—they made roughly 18,000 watches during their tenure,” Warren said. “They employed 200 people—all Americans—and they made everything in America—every component.”

Warren and his wife revived the Cornell Watch Company in 2021—finally selling their first watches this year.

“The motivation behind it was just to save a company that we all loved that had really been lost to history,” said Warren.

The new Cornell Watch Company’s first model is called the 1870 CE, which stands for “classic enamel.” The company has sold 16 of the watch, at a cost of almost $12,000 apiece.

Each one is painstakingly made to order. Much of the work is done by hand, with many techniques used by the original watchmakers.

“We use real grand feu enamel dial, made the same exact way as the Cornell Watch Company did in 1870,” Warren said. “We hand-finish all of the cases. We hand-finish all the movements. They’re hand-assembled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”

The new Cornell Watch Company has already sold out for next year—even though smart watches like the Apple Watch are so popular.

“Something interesting happened. It got younger people—specifically my generation like Millennials and Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha—it got them into wearing something on their wrist,” Warren said, “and so now, if you’re wearing Apple Watch, you may be more inclined to put something else on your wrist too.”

But Warren said this is bigger than just a watch.

“We’re committed to bringing back American manufacturing, American watchmaking,” he said.

Earlier this month, Warren revealed the next phase of the Cornell Watch Company. The company is partnering with an Ohio manufacturer to mass-produce watches.

As the current model is made to order by hand, the mass-produced watches will cost a lot less.

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