Ticktock

As a University of Chicago undergraduate, John Warren, AB ’15, MBA ’20, couldn’t afford the kinds of high-end watches that he truly wanted. A budding collector on a student budget, he started browsing eBay for nostalgic pocket watches that didn’t cost well into the thousands.

One find was a hefty 1870s-era railroad watch. Such watches were built and styled to help conductors keep precise time. This one, labeled “Cornell,” felt especially meaningful: Warren happened to live on Cornell Avenue in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Digging into the history, he discovered that the watch had been manufactured close to his apartment on Chicago’s South Side by the Cornell Watch Company. The watchmaker was no longer in business, but for a brief time in history, Cornell pocket watches were considered to be the most precise in the country.

Warren scooped the timepiece up, and over time went on to acquire more vintage watches. Many that he purchased were still working, and had spotless enamel dials and internal components etched with makers’ marks. Each one cost $100–$200. The timeless designs drew him in, but the watches were impractical. “These things are so loud, it’s not something you can wear to a meeting or carry around,” he says.

Meanwhile, Warren was focused on other pursuits. He met his future wife, Chrissy Lozier Warren, ’20, while working in finance following his graduation from UChicago. Both were in their early 20s, and the couple decided to attend Booth together. He then went on to earn a law degree at Northwestern, while she began a career in investment banking. They got married in 2022.

Still, his interest in watches persisted, and his 1870s-era Cornell railroad watch continued to hold a special place in his mind. Now, he and his wife have added watchmaking to their pursuits—and they’ve chosen for their design a sleek everyday wristwatch that honors the Cornell Watch Company’s legacy.

History in the Making

The story of the original Cornell Watch Company is inextricable with that of its founder, Paul Cornell, a pioneer of business and industry in boomtown Chicago in the latter part of the 1800s. Cornell was equal parts lawyer, real-estate speculator, entrepreneur, urban planner, and civic leader. Widely considered the father of Hyde Park, he was also instrumental in developing the parks system that thrives in its surrounds today.

Cornell came by this reputation by investing in empty land along the lakeshore south of the city beginning in 1853. He had the foresight to deed a portion of his land to the Illinois Central Railroad, which ensured that the area would be accessible by train to the wealthy Chicagoans he marketed it to as a resort getaway.

He forbade industrial development in Hyde Park itself but began work on a factory at 79th and Ellis, complete with tower and bell, in an area that would become known as Grand Crossing. An 1873 article in the Chicago Tribune gushed about the factory, which was completed in 1871:

Few things will improve the condition of the farmers of the great Northwest as much as the location of large manufacturing establishments throughout the country wherever circumstances will permit.

Recognizing the above fact, Chicago has already taken a commanding lead in all branches of manufactures, from the heaviest and bulkiest articles to the finest and most delicate pieces of mechanism.

One of the most valuable and interesting branches of industry that has ever been started here is one but, little known, except to those interested in it, or to the residents in its vicinity. We refer to the Cornell Watch Factory.

Cornell watches were well crafted and sought after. “The Cornell Watch Company is a success in which all Chicago people should take pride,” the Tribune enthused.

But business was short-lived. The factory escaped the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, but it couldn’t withstand the financial panic of 1873. In a bid to save the company, Cornell relocated it to San Francisco—to no avail. The business was reincorporated as the California Watch Factory by 1875 and met its demise in 1879. 

Revitalizing a Bygone Trade

The couple’s passion project calls back to a time when American watchmakers were ahead of the game. In the 1850s, US watchmaking was centered in Waltham, Massachusetts, where the Industrial Revolution had taken a strong foothold. Companies in Waltham were the first to automate watchmaking by using interchangeable parts.

“No one in the world was doing that,” says Warren, who adds that between the 1850s and the early 1900s, more watches were manufactured by companies in the US than in any other country, resulting in a bustling American watch trade. “The way US watch companies were structured looked like a Ford assembly line,” he says.

By the First World War, though, many US watchmakers had disappeared. Only in recent years have enthusiasts such as Warren looked to revive a local industry.

The timing feels right. With the COVID-19 pandemic came more buzz around wristwatches. Some consumers swear by high-end watches as an alternative investment, flipping designer pieces on the resale market. And there are now more watch buffs interested in the local history of watchmaking, thanks in part to social media.

The launch of the Apple watch also made people feel comfortable with watches again, adds Warren. “It got things on people’s wrists when they otherwise wouldn’t be wearing anything, and it spurred more interest,” he says. In the end, watches have proved to be timeless.

‘We Can Figure It Out’

The revived Cornell Watch Company’s first model, the 1870 CE, costs $10,795. So far only 15 have been made, and there’s a two-year waiting list. A raffle to purchase four of the watches drew 300 entries. In the coming year, the company plans to make 25–50 watches.

The process is slow, in large part because the founders want to include as many US-made components as possible. Each watch is made by RGM Watch Co., a watchmaker in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Among enthusiasts, RGM is thought to rival Swiss watchmakers. In watchmaking, movements—also known as calibers—are the internal mechanisms that make a watch run. The movements for the Cornell 1870 CE take six–eight months to make and are finished by hand. They are the only major component made in Switzerland, because few US options exist.

Lozier Warren oversees financials, and Warren serves as CEO and head of design. A third cofounder, Garrison Jones, AB ’15, heads up sales. The company is self-funded, and the couple credit some of their Booth courses—including marketing and accounting—for preparing them to wear many hats. “The Booth MBA has given us the confidence that we can run this business and we can figure it out,” Lozier Warren says.

Now, the founders aim to grow the brand beyond the watch-enthusiast community. They are also experimenting with different colors for the enamel watch faces, moving beyond milky white. “Our first years were spent on proof of concept,” says Warren. “We were laser-focused on creating a watch that people appreciated.”

The couple say their company is a pioneer in returning watchmaking to the US. For example, $500 from each sale supports the Horological Society of New York, the country’s oldest watchmaking association, in providing scholarships for students of watchmaking. The couple have also created a digital supplier and manufacturing directory for other US watchmakers. And Warren adds that reinvigorating the US trade provides a source of well-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree.

So far, things are hectic at the Cornell Watch Company. Both Warren and Lozier Warren have kept their day jobs—he as a private-funds attorney and she as an investment banker. And there’s little downtime when running a side business. This year, the couple turned a business trip to a watch trade show in Geneva, Switzerland, into a vacation and spent time near the Alpine lake. Between meetings with suppliers, peer brands, and the press, they explored restaurants and watch boutiques in the area—and squeezed in a jog around the lake every morning.

There’s no secret to their productivity, Lozier Warren explains: “We work at night, and we make lots of lists.”