Time Hill, 1926

In 1913, the Gruens purchased land in Cincinnati for a new factory building, which was completed in 1917. Designed by Guy Burroughs and John Henri Deeken, “Time Hill” deliberately mimicked the style of Swiss chalets. In the face of an increasingly mechanized world, Frederick Gruen sought to link his company to prestigious Swiss watchmaking traditions. The emphasis on Swiss models and precedents was also timely, insofar as it distanced the Gruen family from their native Germany at a moment when anti-German sentiment was raging on account of the war. From: Cover illustration, Gruen Standardized Parts for the Trade, Catalogue B, 1926.