60 | Summer 2017 time that Carl started to develop his own “informal” education of watches. Upon graduating from GDS in 2002, Carl attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He studied Business Administration, earning a BSBA at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. He later attended the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York City where he earned a Graduate Gemologist Degree and Graduate Diamond Degree. Carl excelled and finished at the top of his class. GIA gave Carl the specific education in gems and jewelry needed to start a career in fine jewelry. Carl remained in New York City and joined an e-commerce start-up focused on fine watches and jewelry. After gaining invaluable experience, Carl decided to apply his skills, education, and passion to a new venture and founded CMT Fine Watch and Jewelry Advisors in 2012. CMT is a play on GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time, which is the old civil time standard. CMT provides a variety of services including: sourcing of product, consulting, collection creation, merchandizing, curation, marketing, promotion, and business development. Carl has worked with a number of major retailers including Moda Operandi, Amazon, and Bergdorf Goodman, and he supplies a number of jewelry and specialty stores across the country. His passion is working with clients to find unique watches to commemorate special For as long as he can remember, Carl Cohen ’02 has always been around watches and jewelry. From his earliest memories, he can recall visiting the family-owned jewelry stores, the Jewel Box (later Carlyle & Co.), where he would view the watch cases with wonder. He remembers the awe that came over him when viewing precious gemstones as they glistened in the light. Carl recalls his fascination at a young age with a Mickey Mouse musical watch made by a company called Lorus that played “It’s a Small World” as Mickey’s hands would move. While in high school at GDS, Carl started working at Carlyle & Co, inventorying, quality controlling and cataloging watches. It was during this ALUMNI STORIES occasions and important milestones as well as helping individuals build their personal collections. Carl focuses on vintage luxury watches that tell stories and capture memories. He pours over the extreme detail that goes into creating a fine timepiece and enjoys the subtle elements that distinguish one watch from another. Carl’s inventory of watches spans brands and decades, catering to both first-time buyers as well as long-time collectors. One of the most rewarding parts of his business is the ‘hunt’ for watches. Carl works with a network of collectors, dealers and private individuals in addition to auctions hoses globally to source product. Carl loves to discover beautiful timepieces, such as the stone dial watches (e.g., lapis lazuli, malachite) Rolex created in the 1970s through early 1980s. Each dial is truly one-of-a-kind due to the nature and cut of the stone. Carl credits GDS with providing him with the foundation to build his business. GDS encouraged him to believe in himself. Through confidence and hard work, Carl has learned about achievement. GDS also taught Carl the importance of learning from mistakes. As a business owner, Carl truly understands the consequences of making mistakes and the value of learning from those decisions. Finally, GDS taught Carl how to be a good person. Carl attributes much of his success to the values embraced by the GDS community. Carl is another example of someone finding his niche in this world. Visit his website at www.cmtwatches.com or contact Carl via email at cmtwatches@ gmail.com. Carl Cohen ’02, Vintage Watch Retailer Editor’s Note: We would like to sincerely thank Carl for donating a vintage Rolex Watch for the Parents’ Association Greensboro Day Soirée Auction. Carl donated a 1970 (the year the school was founded) Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust watch, 36 mm with an acrylic crystal, date function, stunning silver dial and green and gold crocodile straps.