A Cartoon's Charm

Cartoon watches might seem childish but there are reasons to feel otherwise, especially if nostalgia transports one back to childhood days.

- Asaph Low

Watches can be serious, traditional and impersonable, but when it wants to be lighthearted, fun and approachable, they mean serious business too. On the face of things, watchmakers might have cracked the code to being relatable and to dial down the highbrow elements of fine watchmaking. How? With the unlikely help of cartoon and comic characters.

Nostalgia is a powerful tool and even though their minds are geared differently, watchmakers and marketers know this for a fact. It presents an opportunity to connect with consumers by tapping into the feel-good factor of their past. Curiously, the word nostalgia comes from the Greek words nostos (return) and algos (pain), and literally means the pain of wanting to return to a place of comfort. Instead of tapping into different sources of nostalgia, the world of cartoons and comics is perhaps one of the most universal. At some point in our lives, we would have come across a Disney character or Marvel superhero and more often than not, it was during the carefree childhood and teenage years that most would gladly relive.

Of the many cartoon characters to grace watches in the past, none had the impact and influence Mickey Mouse had. There is not much surprise about this either since Mickey Mouse is perhaps one of - if not, the mosticonic cartoon character ever. Five years after it was animated and brought to life by Walt Disney, the glove donning smiley mouse became the face of a range of then-American brand Ingersoll Waterbury Company's watches in 1933.