How Cartoon Character Watches Took Over the Collecting World
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What was the first watch you ever loved? Chances are, it wasn’t a high-end perpetual calendar, a dazzling tourbillon, or a rainbow chronograph. For many kids, the path to horological obsession begins with “character” watches—timepieces emblazoned with the likeness of a well-known figure from comic books, cartoons, or other pop cultural phenomena. And these days, if you’re a serious collector, there are plenty of alluring character watches—some affordable, some extremely not—worth chasing.
Take, for example, Revolution and The Rake’s latest limited-edition watch with none other than the king of American prep himself: Ralph Lauren. The third such collaboration between the horological and sartorial magazines founded by Wei Koh and Lauren’s iconic brand, it depicts the famed Polo Bear decked out in the Snow Beach parka of the 1993 Ralph Lauren urban sportswear collection.
A reference to both ‘90s hip-hop culture as well as to the history of the Polo Bear itself, the Snow Beach Bear Watch follows on the heels of two other models depicting the affable, ursine mascot—both of which have sold out on The Rake’s website. (This one, however, comes with custom mirrored sunglasses complete with a sports strap, plus a colorful leather NATO. The shades alone may be worth the price of admission.)
Koh, of course, is no stranger to high-end watchmaking. A well known watch and style journalist and a serious collector, his encyclopedic knowledge of both watches and the watchmaking industry has led to numerous high-end, limited-edition pieces produced by some of the most famed and well-respected watchmakers in the world. But there’s something about the character watch—its playfulness, its connotations of childhood, its affordability, its color—that clearly appealed to both Koh and Lauren alike.
Where did this whole “character” watch business originate? From the late 19th century through the Second World War, American watch companies produced tens of millions of timepieces. Many of these companies are now long out of business, or their names and IP have been purchased by foreign investment groups and conglomerates. (Think Hamilton, Bulova, Benrus, etc.)
One such brand, the Ingersoll Watch Company, was purchased by the Waterbury Clock Company—the company that would become Timex—in 1922. Beginning in the 1930s, it began producing a unique series of character watches under the Ingersoll name featuring the likes of Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, the Lone Ranger, and many others. Post-Second World War, the roster grew to include newly minted comic book heroes.
During the following decades, numerous brands would take up the character watch mantle, from Bradley all the way up to Rolex. (Sort of—there’s furious internet debate as to whether Mickey-dialed Oyster Perpetual watches and others came from the Rolex factory or feature aftermarket dials. As the brand hardly ever comments on, well, anything, this debate has yet to be fully put to bed.) But what were once children’s playthings or highly niche collectibles are no longer fringe goods—au contraire, they appear to be positively everywhere these days.
Clearly, character sells—even at $1,850, which is what the Revolution x Rake x Ralph Lauren model will set you back. These days, you can also pay less for a character watch: Unimatic, the Italian microbrand that got its start in 2015 producing wonderfully minimalist takes on famous tool watch tropes, has been smacking zeitgeisty character dials on its wares and promptly selling many of them out. From Spongebob to South Park to Disney (the Disney collab is the latest and is still currently available), its limited-edition character watches—which you can nab for around $1,000—are moving like wildfire.
There’s also plenty of room to play at the opposite end of the spectrum: Audemars Piguet’s been on a roll lately, dropping tourbillons worth hundreds of thousands of dollars featuring the likes of Black Panther and Spider-Man on the dial. And if you think no one would shell out $215,000 for a “cartoon watch,” just ask John Mayer and Ed Sheeran, who wore matching Spidey models this summer to a benefit show.
But back to Mickey for a sec, the originator of the character watch craze. The little mouse is everywhere, including on complicated Genta designs that the brand has been selling, on-off, since the 1980s. And with the brand set to relaunch under the production of Louis Vuitton-owned La Fabriques du Temps, who knows what we might see in the future. (LV makes half-million dollar watches out of solid blocks of sapphire, after all—for all we know, Mickey’s yet to live his most luxurious horological chapter.)
From sub-$100 Snoopy Timexes to $10,600 Snoopy Speedmasters, you can buy into character watches at all price points, and all strata of subtlety (or lack thereof). Like it or not, these playful instances of horological novelty are here to stay. Which means it might just be time to embrace your inner kid and strap one on.
Originally Appeared on GQ
