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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After leaving Egypt more than four decades ago, Cameel Halim has made a name for himself in real estate in the greater Chicago area. Also passionate about antiques and antiquities, he and his wife, Hoda, are soon to open the Halim Time and Glass Museum, which offers visitors an opportunity to view a private collection of timepieces and stained glass. Located in Evanston, Illinois, the Halim Time and Glass Museum showcases many historic Tiffany stained-glass windows and notable timepieces. Many of these timepieces come from Seth Atwood’s Time Museum, a Rockford, Illinois, institution that closed in 1999. Mr. Halim purchased approximately 200 of the pieces, some of which include European clocks and American pocket watches. In addition to those items, the museum includes other rare pieces, such as an 18th-century clock once owned by a Japanese ruler, a pocket watch originally constructed for a blind man, and an early 17th-century elephant clock. This piece features a man who is tied to a tree being circled once every hour by a leopard and lion. The oldest item, circa 1520, is table clock from Augsburg, now part of Germany. An experienced civil engineer, Cameel Halim is the owner and president of CH Ventures, LLC, based in Wilmette, Illinois. Through the company, Cameel Halim purchases distressed properties and remodels and resells them.
In November 2005, preservationists were overjoyed when a house built by famed architect Daniel H. Burnham in Chicago’s Kenilworth Village escaped demolition after Cameel Halim bought it for $2.35 million. The home, located at 157 Kenilworth Avenue, was designed by architects working for Burnham’s firm and built in 1908. In the early 2000s, the owner decided to tear it down and build a new home. It was stripped of its windows and other features at an auction and was scheduled for demolition. Kenilworth has no preservation ordinance restricting tear-downs, and preservationists spent months trying to convince the owner not to demolish it but to sell or renovate it, to no avail. However, just before it was about to be torn apart, Cameel Halim stepped forward and bought it, ensuring the continuance of part of Kenilworth’s rich architectural history. As president of CH Ventures, LLC, since 2005, Cameel Halim maintains ownership and is responsible for managing numerous real estate properties in the Chicago area. In conjunction with his real estate career, Cameel Halim is also a licensed structural engineer. Structural engineers, simply speaking, are responsible for the integrity and function of the essential parts of a building -- the skeleton, if you will. Through their work, they ensure that buildings and other structures are safe and able to deal with all the different stresses they might encounter. These professionals typically work in conjunction with architects and developers in almost all phases of construction. They are also required to keep up with advancements in the field, and must prove their training merits through a rigorous licensure process. While structural engineers are most commonly working on new building projects, sometimes they are brought in to lend their expertise when a building or some other large structure is damaged or when it is scheduled for demolition, in order to ensure the process goes smoothly. Cameel Halim is a real estate developer who has become known around the Chicago area for restoring historic buildings. In addition to his work in real estate, Cameel Halim has an extensive collection of timepieces on display at his family museum in Evanston, Illinois. The timepieces come from all over the world, including China and several European countries. Many date back to the 1500s, when timekeeping was first being mechanized. Some of the collection was reclaimed from Seth Atwood’s Time Museum in Rockford, which closed its doors in 1999. The Evanston museum was able to keep some of the Time Museum’s legacy available to the public. One of the clocks once belonged to an 18th century Japanese shogun, who had a clock-winder working full-time to keep it running. Another is a French pocket watch grooved especially for a blind person to tell the time. The museum also features a library of horological books, as well as several historic stained-glass windows and other artifacts. As the founder and president of CH Ventures, LLC, in Chicago, Cameel Halim has been investing in and managing real estate for more than 40 years. Cameel Halim is also responsible for the Halim Museum of Time and Glass in Evanston, which houses more than 80 stained-glass windows created between 1880 and 1920 by famous artists, including John La Farge.
A renowned stained-glass painter of the late 1800s, La Farge studied painting in Europe before settling in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1859 to formally launch his career in the arts. La Farge’s first noteworthy work came when he was appointed to create stained-glass pieces and murals for the Trinity Church in Boston. Upon the success of this work, La Farge secured important commissions for both private patrons, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, and public spaces, such as New York’s Church of Ascension. La Farge is also well known for the watercolor paintings he created while traveling, especially the paintings made during his time in the South Seas. Like his stained-glass pieces, La Farge’s watercolors feature bold colors and architectural elements. La Farge continued to create murals and stained glass until he passed away in 1910. Real estate professional Cameel Halim oversees CH Ventures, LLC, as the Wilmette, Illinois-based company’s owner and president. Outside of his professional activities, Cameel Halim maintains an avid interest in classic timepieces and horology.
A focus of study for thousands of years, horology, or the science of timekeeping, originated with the Sumerians, who developed a 360-day calendar in the 21st century BC. The Babylonians later expanded on the Sumerians’ work by dividing the day into 24 hours, hours into 60 minutes, and minutes into 60 seconds. Over the years, a number of devices were created to track these measurements, but the first mechanical clocks did not appear until approximately the 13th century AD, when large tower clocks began popping up throughout Europe. The first watch was created two centuries later and led to a number of innovative developments in timekeeping. Modern inventions from the early to mid-20th century greatly improved the accuracy of clocks and watches and incorporated quartz, electricity, and speaking functions. Today, atomic clocks are available with the capability of measuring time in billionths of a second. A collector of antique timepieces, real estate professional Cameel Halim has cultivated a collection of 600 clocks, many of which are on display at the Halim Museum of Time and Glass in Evanston, Illinois. Like many antiques, aged clocks require maintenance to keep them functioning correctly. It is helpful for enthusiasts like Cameel Halim to know these basic clock care tips.
1. Oil regularly: Behind their faces, clocks have many gears and moving parts that require synthetic clock oil to run smoothly. While the frequency with which a clock needs to be oiled depends on the style, most clocks must be cleaned and oiled once every three years to prevent damage. 2. Wind clocks gently: An antique clock should not take an extraordinary amount of force to wind up. You will know to stop winding when you feel significant resistance, or when you can hear the spring coils within the clock rubbing against one another. 3. Keep clocks away from heat: Putting an antique clock in direct sunlight, above a fireplace, or near a radiator can cause significant damage. Humidity and fluctuating temperatures can have an effect on a clock’s ability to function properly in both the short and long term. 4. Move clocks carefully: Mechanical antique clocks need to be correctly packed and gently handled, avoiding vibration and bumping that could bend gears or knock parts out of place. Remember to move all weights and pendulums before transport as well to prevent damage to the inside of the clock case. Licensed structural engineer Cameel Halim is a real estate professional interested in the urban revitalization of Chicago. With a penchant for seeing potential in properties, Cameel Halim believes in the restoration of buildings where feasible as part of revitalization.
Urban revitalization is a process through which decaying portions of cities are reinvigorated through building restoration, redevelopment, and reorganization. The process of revitalization aims to improve several factors within a neighborhood, including its image, economy, physical state, social state, and the ability of officials to manage community problems. As cities and their buildings age, it takes a toll on each of these areas, and urban revitalization offers a solution to the natural decay of a neighborhood. While some buildings are torn down to make room for more modern designs, historic buildings can also be renovated as part of urban revitalization. Buildings or homes sporting the designs of famous architects can be legally protected during the process to ensure that important historical markers are not lost. Since the mid-1970s, Cameel Halim and his wife, Hoda, have invested in real estate in Chicago and the surrounding metropolitan area. Before launching his career in real estate, Cameel Halim worked as a licensed structural engineer in the State of Illinois.
A specialty within the field of civil engineering, structural engineering involves the analysis of physical forces within the context of an existing structure. By performing careful calculations of all contributing force-resisting elements, structural engineers can determine the types of forces a structure can sustain without compromising its integrity. Although most people associate structural engineers with skyscrapers and bridges, these professionals also work with everyday objects like chairs and windows. To become a licensed structural engineer, individuals must first receive their professional engineering license by completing education requirements and a licensing exam. Depending on the state, professional engineers must often acquire several years of additional work experience before applying for a structural engineering license, which enables them to work on buildings like schools and hospitals. |
AuthorA successful real Chicago estate investor, Cameel Halim supports his community through a variety of charitable efforts. Archives
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