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1974 Italian ad for a very rare Timex watch.
Above is a small inset from an ad that ran in the June 16, 1974 edition of the Italian kids' magazine, Topolino (volume 968). It shows the below pictured watch which I obtained in September 2018, and which appears to be very rare. At the bottom is a picture of the magazine cover, the exact issue!
At the time I found the watch and shared pics of it with other Timex collectors, no one had every seen it, which is very odd. Since then, one other collecto,r from London, has found on, in January 2020. As often happens with the "internet effect," when an item becomes known, this causes it to surface at auctions, as we saw with another uncommon Timex, blue, black, and white, shown here at this link. It's possible we may start seeing this watch surface, but it will surely still be in small numbers.
Larger crop from the ad showing the watch side-by-side with another smaller watch. You can see it's got a strap with a kind of herringbone pattern. Fabric? Not sure. The other watch has an interesting metal bracelet with red inlays
Another part of the ad shows a blonde kid wearing a cap, holding yet a third watch in a baseball glove. (Was baseball popular in Italy in 1974?) I just answered my own question by looking it up. It is not popular in Italy, or really anywhere in Europe, except in one Italian city, a seaside town of Nettuno. The story is quite interesting if you like to read it.
These watches were intended for children. The ad copy (reproduced below) is all about waterproof, rugged, indestructible nature of these Timex watches.
Below is the ad copy, with machine translation into English. Machine translation isn't perfect, but I believe the main points are conveyed:
"Hey guys, what a force, the Timex!
Timex is for wild unleashed kids like you!
The watch that never breaks (by the way have you seen the 'torture tests' on television? Exceptional, no?)
You can play, you can jump, you can get wet, you can do baseball, you can go crazy as much as you want...
Don't worry: your timex likes adventure, and the more bumps it takes, the happier it is."
Topolino magazine cover, June 16, 1974. Topolino is the Italian name of Mickey Mouse, and the magazine appears to be all about Disney characters.
Another important Timex ad appeared in Topolino, September 1983, an ad for the Timex Camper Watch featuring US soldiers, and showing two watches.
