One of the most successful and popular items that Kay introduced to the public was the Mickey Mouse Watch. The early days of the Disney brothers’ company saw them often strapped for cash, prompting Walt Disney to first sell merchandising rights of Mickey Mouse to a man he me in a hotel lobby who wanted to sell writing tablets featuring the famous mouse - Disney earned $300 cash from this first deal.Ī few years later, Disney was contacted by Herman “Kay” Kamen, a natural salesman with an extensive background in marketing and merchandising for animated figures.Īfter wooing the Disney brothers with his knowledge of branding and merchandising, the Disneys awarded Kamen’s promotional firm the licensing rights to all Disney merchandising - which it held for two decades and used to earn millions of dollars for the Disneys. Pictures can help, but if you are unsure, ask the seller.While the Disney Company of today may be a merchandising machine, it was not always this way. Just because it was never worn does not mean there will not be cracking on the leather band or spots on the dial. You might also consider the condition of the new or NOS watch. This is more difficult to find and is considered more valuable because they are rare. NOS (new old stock) watches were purchased when they were first manufactured and were never opened, used, or tampered with in any way. New watches could be a display model and never been worn.

Just because the watch 'ticks' does not mean it is in working condition. The watch should have been tested for accuracy, though manually wound watches will lose a few minutes each day, which is normal. Working condition should mean the watch keeps accurate time. Also consider looking through the description to guarantee the watch works and that both hands are visible on the watch. You should look for scratches on the dial, wear and tear on the band, and be sure the buckle and the eye closure are in working order. View all the photographs that come with the ad. This will mean more work on your part, but you want to be certain you have the right year of watch for your collection. These watches had the same cases, bands, and characters, though they are worth significantly less in the collectible world.īecause of the many timeframes involved with Disney character watches, it is important to read each result carefully in its entirety. There was also a battery operated watch model that was manufactured in the early 1980s. These adult watches are worth more than the children's watches, especially when they run and are in their original boxes. Bands include specialty unique bands made of metal or premium leather. Cases include boxed, rectangular, circular, and hexagonal as well as stainless steel and gold-tone cases. There was also a line of Mickey Mouse timepieces from Bradley that were made for men and women, with varying case shapes and bands. Those were created by Timex and Ingersoll however, there are still many vintage Cinderella watches made by Bradley that are considered to be very collectible. It is true that they did, in fact, manufacture these characters on their watches, but they are not the first set. Many believe that Bradley manufactured the 'first' Cinderella and Mickey Mouse watch, though they actually did not. There seems to be some confusion with some characters.

During this time, they also produced Mickey Mouse watches, along with Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Cinderella, Snow White, Donald Duck, Mary Poppins, and Alice in Wonderland, among others. Men's diver watches with any Disney characterĭisco Mickey Watch (comes with a record as well)ĭMickey Mouse and Donald Duck birthday watchesīradley took over the Disney Character watch manufacturing from 1972 to about 1985.

Disney timeworks watches