1948 Babe Ruth Watch

Appraised on: June 26, 2004

Appraised in: St. Paul, Minnesota

Appraised by: Kevin Zavian

Category: Clocks & Watches

Episode Info: St. Paul, Hour 2 (#902)

Originally Aired: January 10, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (2:22)

GUEST: Well, this ball I got when I was about eight or ten years old for a Christmas present from my mother. And, uh, I wore it for a little while. It gave me a rash on my wrist, so I put it back in the ball, and I've never worn it since then, which was about 56 years ago.

APPRAISER: Okay, now you said you wore it.

GUEST: Just a little bit.

APPRAISER: We have to open it up so people can see what you're talking about. This ball is made out of plastic and if we open it up, inside, tell us what it reveals. It reveals a watch of Babe Ruth.

GUEST: Um, it was made, like I said, 55 to 56 years ago, and, uh, I just got it as a present-- that was it.

APPRAISER: The present was from your mom.

GUEST: My mother, yes.

APPRAISER: These watches were called caricature watches. In the 1930s, probably the most famous of them would be, uh, Mickey Mouse, made by Ingersoll. And Disney got into it very heavy, and they started making other ones like Donald Duck and whatnot. You probably remember Tom Mix, the Lone Ranger, Dick Tracy. What happened was World War II came along, and they ceased production on a lot of these. Now, uh, this watch was manufactured by a company after World War II, called Exact Time. And Babe Ruth was one of the watches they made. This particular watch was made in 1948. All right? Now, A) we have the ball, we have the box, we even have the little insert card inside that holds the watch. Now there is one thing missing from this. Do you remember?

GUEST: No, I guess I don't.

APPRAISER: What it came with-- a little pledge card, just a little promotional pledge card inside. The pledge card probably would have said a phrase, you know, as far as being a good kid.

GUEST: Oh, yeah, a good kid, play sports. Yeah. Be fair.

APPRAISER: It might have got lost.

GUEST: I guess I don't remember back then.

APPRAISER: It does happen. Doesn't change the value a whole lot, though, because we rarely see them in this kind of condition. Typically, if you brought in the watch only, I would've said maybe $150, $200. I spoke to Simeon over in sports collectibles, we put our heads together and we feel that this is probably worth, just like this, around $1,200 to $1,500.

GUEST: Wow. Okay, great.