​​Ingersoll-Waterbury Co. debuted the first production model in 1933. The brainchild of a Montgomery Ward buyer and Disney merchandising prodigy Kay Kamen, the Mickey watches were an immediate hit and are credited with saving Ingersoll from bankruptcy. According to legend, more than 11,000 were sold in one day at Macy's in New York. Each Mickey Mouse watch was sold originally for around US$3. Within the next 2 years, over 2.5 million Mickey Mouse watches were sold.​​

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Over the years Mickey Mouse watches have been produced by various watch companies and millions of Disney fans have been collecting watches with this favorite Disney character.

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Then Dan Brown's 2003 best selling novel "The Da Vinci Code" has pushed the Ingersoll Mickey Mouse watches to another pinnacle in the antique watch market. The protagonist Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor who wears a Mickey Mouse watch given by his parents on his 9th birthday. This 80 million sold copies novel has definitely made an impact on most readers on this type of collectable watches and subsequently a 1933 original Ingersoll Mickey watch was sold for a reported US$6,500.
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