Licensed as a structural engineer, Cameel Halim guides a Chicago real estate firm consisting of 200 employees and undertakes diverse urban restoration projects. A longtime collector of objets d’art and timepieces, Cameel Halim recently launched The Halim Family Museum of Time & Glass in Evanston. The four-story museum houses a wide range of clocks spanning the history of horology from Asia to Europe. One of the most significant developments in the horological sphere involved the creation of the wristwatch, which came about in the late 18th century. These were not conceived of as wristwatches per se, but as spring-driven clocks compact enough to be worn as ladies’ bracelets. In 1809, the jeweler Nitot in Paris created a couple of the most unique of these early models, one with a clock and the other with a mechanical calendar, as a gift from the Empress Josephine to her daughter-in-law. This trend of royal wristwatches continued for the next half century, with Patek Philippe creating an innovative key-winding model in 1868 for a Hungarian countess. Developments in technology were formalized in 1889 when Albert Bertholet in Switzerland filed a patent claim on a “simplified wristwatch” that operated through turning a bezel connected directly to a mainspring barrel, using the human hand instead of a key. Despite this innovation, the wristwatch did not take the place of the predominant pocket watch for some decades to come.
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AuthorA successful real Chicago estate investor, Cameel Halim supports his community through a variety of charitable efforts. Archives
February 2018
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