My first watch as well when I was five

 

Cool!

 

My Mickey Mouse is not a Bradley. I believe it Was made by Hamilton or Elgin.

I got mine from my cousin who worked at Disneyland as postmaster general.
The watches they sold at Disneyland in the late 60's- early 70's, were nicer than you could find elsewhere, and more expensive.

The information out there is spotty. Some say that the only Mickey Mouse watches sold at Disneyland had "Disneyland" across the top.

Well, my cousin got mine from "Ye old watch shop", on Main Street, in Disneyland, and it doesn't say "Disneyland" across the top, so, there you go!

I remember seeing Bradley Mickey Mouse watches a few years after I got my MM. Apparantly Bradley was an offshoot of Elgin.

I recall that they were less expensive than the other mm watches available at the time. Department stores sold them, which was handy if you didn't live near Disneyland.

Found an interesting link you might find helpful:

Mickey Mouse Watches | History & Styles of the Disney Watch

Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

Hey, this is a Vantage made Mickey, a division of Hamilton. Hope this helps.

 

Very cool, thanks 'doppelganger'. I had seen that page. I think mine is one of the ones he listed as 1975/1978. I also found this page that, from what I can tell, is the model or one that is externally very similar. I refuse to take the back off of mine. I don't want to risk damaging it.

https://jpmoeller.com/2017/03/12/bradley-mickey-mouse-watch/

 

I was unfamiliar with this particular brand of Mickey Mouse watch. Very cool piece of Disney history.

 

Yeah, I just found out that they were a division of Elgin. I used to own an Elgin pocket watch. I gave it to my brother years ago. Wish I still had it. He's since lost it or sold it, he doesn't remember. He's definitely not a watch guy!

 

My first watch was something like that. My dad gave it to me around 1978 or so. He bought it in Disneyland circa 1977.
I don't know. I can't remember. I was like 4 years old. I remember watching Bambi at the movies in 1980 and wearing that watch.

 

Hey Doppelgänger, I just stumbled upon your 5 year old post re: the Elgin or Hamilton version of this MM watch that you have. I have the exact same watch. I was given mine as a bar mitzvah gift by Carl Bongirno, a long time Disney executive who just passed away at the age of 86 a week ago on March 5 which is also my birthday. Weird and nostalgic. He and my dad became friends while getting WDW off the ground in Orlando. Anyway, I have always wondered who made the watch that we both have. I knew it was from the parks (FL or Anaheim) and I still have the black plastic case that the watch came in with the 1 year "Service Certificate" and warranty info to mail the watch to the "Character Watch Service Center" PO Box 5670, LA, CA 90055. Haha. I just wish I knew more about the thing so if you've learned anything further, please let me know. Was trying to upload a couple of photos but it isn't working for me. Might try again later.

 

Hey, Bradley made Mickey watches from 1973-1985. Yours is a 1978-1980. Hope this helps. we have one of this style, the feet placement on the dial is changed for several models of this model. Our site for reference is www.mickeywatch.org. None are for sale, just most of our collection is posted.

 

I also had a nicer MM watch that was my cousins. He was the postmaster at Disneyland and gave me my MM. However, I also got his personal MM watch after he died.

That watch was nicer than mine. It was labeled Hamilton on the caseback, had 25 jewels, an arrow tipped second hand, and the Hamilton compass quadrant(?) logo engraved on the back. It had a bit thicker case, was noticeably heavier, and was nicer finished. It may have been an automatic vs my manual wind. I was still pretty young and wasn’t as hip to watches as I would be in a couple years.

Somebody stole that one from me.

I recently found some pictures of what looked like the same watch I still have which was opened up to reveal the inner caseback. which was labeled Windert. Not much info out there about this likely defunct company though.

Interesting info about Vantage/Hamilton though. I’ll check that out.

Perhaps I’ll get brave and crack open the case one of these days and take a look at what’s on mine.

I probably should have a watchmaker service it even though it runs fine. I’m afraid of some hack messing it up though, particularly the enamel dial which is still immaculate.

One good thing though. After literally the entire life of the watch, the accuracy has been - 2 minutes per day. I checked it on my new Timegrapher and that’s exactly what it showed as well.

I purchased a demagnetizer a while back and used it on the MM.
The accuracy improved to -1 minute per day!

 

You have an amazing history with the MM watches. Thank you for sharing this with me. I’m like you, afraid to crack open a few of the ones I have. I’ll go look for the Winerdt you mentioned. Hadn’t heard that name before. I think the Hamilton/Vantage with and without Disneyland on the top of the face is one of my favorite Mickey faces and outlines.
If I can find out anything, I’ll write back.
have a great week,
Tim

 

 

I guess he’s referring to this being a zombie thread. (2019)

As little input and participation WUS gets nowadays the entire site is zombieland, I don’t know why bringing back an informative thread bothers people.

I will be taking my caseback off tomorrow to see what manufacturer it’s labeled with.

The thread goes on….

 

Well, pulled the case back off.
It’s made by Windert.
Its a lot nicer than I expected!