Family-owned clock company in business for more than 100 years

Much like the clocks it repairs, Chicago Clock Company has kept on ticking for more than a century, outlasting two world wars, the Great Depression and countless other events that have shaped American history. 

Today, the 103-year-old company has four stores in the Chicagoland area, including Water Tower Clock & Watch, on the sixth floor of the Magnificent Mile's Water Tower Place.

Jason Matthiesen, Chicago Clock Company president, is the fourth generation to run the company, which began in 1917 as a door-to-door clock repair business founded by Matthiesen's great-grandfather Conrad Utecht. A German immigrant in pursuit of the American dream, Utecht launched a successful at-home repair shop, later opening a store on Wells Street in downtown Chicago. 

Utecht's son-in-law Ludwig Matthiesen joined the family business after learning the ins and outs of clock repair from Utecht, and Ludwig Matthiesen's sons Andy and Louie eventually took over the company, with Andy bringing the retail side into the equation and Louie working as the service manager at the company's Palatine location. 

Jason Matthiesen grew up helping out with the business after-school and during the summer, unloading trucks and assisting with "general gopher duties," he said. After graduating from Drake University in 1991, he took on a more involved role and moved up the ranks from general manager to vice president to president, a position he has held for the past two years. 

"I believe that our customer service and the quality of work that we do in terms of the repairs is the big reason why we're still around," he said. "On the retail end of it, we really take care of our customers. That's what our goal has always been—to have the best customer service in the industry and treat people like they want to be treated."

The company offers a variety of clock repair services, including in-home service for grandfather clock repairs, with a range that stretches into Wisconsin and Indiana. The business also features a selection of clocks for purchase and can assist customers with transporting clocks to a new home. 

In its 103-year history, Chicago Clock Company has passed through a number of locations. After leaving the initial Wells Street spot in the early 1900s, the store moved to 22 W. Madison St., before relocating to 106 S. Michigan Ave., moving again to 1500 N. Wells St. The company then left the city for a time, establishing a location in Palatine in 1970 and expanding to other areas in the suburbs. 

The Water Tower location, the company's most recent, opened in 2001, Matthiesen said. The store is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday. 

Hillman Castor, Water Tower Clock & Watch manager, has been with the company for nearly 20 years. The most rewarding aspect of his job is the interactions he has with customers.

"Here, people come in and they're in a good mood and they're happy," he said. "It's pleasant. ... Mostly we do a lot of services, changing the watch batteries, hand adjustments. We do watch repair, from Timex to Rolex. ...The main focus for the business is services: you've got to do something that sets yourself apart." 

More complex or specialized clock repairs are handled by the Chicago Clock Company's main office, in Clarendon Hills. The business regularly encounters clocks built in the 1800s and some as early as the late 1700s. Sometimes, the parts necessary to keep the clock running cannot be obtained and must be created, Matthiesen said. 

"The biggest challenge we have, as the clocks are getting older, is more and more hands have been in the clock that may or may not have been experienced enough to do that," he said. "So, there's a lot of home remedies we see and homemade parts and some damage that other people have done."   

One of the most fascinating clocks the company has encountered is one that survived the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, Matthiesen said. 

"The people that owned the clock knew that their house would eventually be devastated, and they buried the clock and ran for safety, obviously," he said. "And when they came back after the fire, they dug the clock up, and cleaned it off. It had run up until about 20 years ago, when somebody accidentally knocked it off the mantle. And a few years back, they brought it into the location in Palatine in complete pieces, and we resurrected it, put Humpty Dumpty back together. That clock has some history."