Posted 11 years ago
native.ame…
(1 item)
I have an Ingersoll 1930's Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs Automaton Pocket Watch. It is apparently not the Disney Version and has a plain back. The Eye moves back and forth. The case seems to be identical to the Disney Case except for the Mickey Mouse on the Back. I have bee told this predated the Disney Watch and was produced for the Great Britain/European Market. I would like to get additional information about this watch and would appreciate any help.
Not a 1934 one but a later model produced by Smiths
Doesn't pre-date, but probably 1966 according to date on movement
Wiki quote:
After the Second World War, the British company, Ingersoll Ltd, joined with Smiths Industries Ltd and Vickers Armstrong in setting up the Anglo-Celtic Company Ltd on the Ynyscedwyn estate. This was on the outskirts of the village of Ystradgynlais, near Swansea, Wales. The first model featured the same movement as the earlier British Ingersolls, now designated calibre PY. These watches were branded Ingersoll Triumph and Smiths Empire. Ingersoll Ltd pulled out of the venture in 1969. Between 1946 and 1980, when the factory closed down, over 30,000,000 watches were made, and exported to 60 different countries throughout the world. They also made many character pocket watches, of many different subjects from the 1930s Prewar years 1933–1939 - Betty Boop, Big Bad Wolf, Buck Rogers, Dizzy Dean, Donald Duck, Flash gordon, Lone Ranger, Mickey Mouse, Moon Mullins, Popeye, Rudy Nebb, Skeezix, Smitty, Three Little Pigs, Tom MixSmiths, Ingersoll (Anglo-Celtic) - Ranger, Jamboree, Football (blue & yellow skies), the 1953 coronation watches, the Guinness automaton & cross bottle watches, the 1951 'From Outer Space' and the Esquire magazine watches . Postwar years 1946–1958 - Captain Marvel, Captain Midnight, Dan Dare (shown shooting monster with moving arm, revolving space dial, and Eagle logo on watch case), Dick Tracy, Donald Duck, Hopalong cassidy, Jeff Arnold, Peter Pan. then in Great Britain several Eagle comic watches were made including, Dan Dare red Label with moving arm and Rocket Ship and word Ingersoll, Dan Dare Black Label with no Ingersoll writing just the word Dan Dare, Ingersoll Jeff Arnold with moving arm, then Ingersoll Jeff Arnold without the word Ingersoll, then Jeff Arnold without the moving arm (this model is very scarce and was part of a late production run of approx 1,500 watches so if you have this model it's quite collectable) 1958–1972 - Buck Rogers, Buster brown, Charlie Chaplin, Flash Gordon, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey & Minnie, Roy Rogers, Superman, Valentino.
Kerry10456: you mention date on movement I do not see any date?
I see the 66 native on it look again . Kerry is a expert on these watches . Glad he gave so much info on the watch , since we all learn from him . He has a massive collection . Again welcome aboard :-)
Hello native, The date is the #'s under the "Made in Gt. Britain" just about the center of the movement
I don't have mine posted, so I'll use George's an example. The dial has several difference, the eye is rounded , hands, number markers and "NO" Ingersoll on the dial are some quick things to see the differnces. George also has several of the Smiths watches posted, if you browse through, I believe you will see dates on a couple he has posted.
Here's link to his 34 Ingersoll BBW:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/58403-three-little-pigs-fairy-tale-timepieces
Thank you for the information and not that I am looking for value but are these watches rare or pretty much worthless
average selling for these is around 100-200 US seen them for less but that's a close average
I appreciate your expertise and experience. I was not making much headway with this prior to you comments. Do you know about other character pocket watches?
I have been collecting since 1969 and have a few around. Post them or ask and I'll see if I know something to help you out. I don't have to many posted anymore, at one time I had around 700-800 different posted here. That's somewhere about 1/6th of my collection.
That is a plethora of watches. I have a Shirley Temple I will post to obtain your input on.
Thank you
Here is a link to a few of Kerry's Character watches . Just a sample you might enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-_jQlGQN-M
The original Disney Three Little Pigs pocket watch was also made by Ingersoll USA, not Gr. Britain. They are stamped on the movement as Made in USA. They also have a door engraved on the back case cover, with the inscription, "May the Big Bad Wolf Never Come to your Door, " with Walt Disney's engraved signature below. I also have a watch similar to the OP's, stamped Made in Gr Britain, with round eyes. The location of all three pigs are also lower on the face of the watch. My watch is also stamped "Smith Industries" with no date, but instead a "M" . As Ingersoll left in 1969, I assume my watch is newer than that.
These watches are vintage in their own right, but they are not the original, and definitely produced decades later then the original from the '30's.