1953 Mickey Mantle All Star Watch
Watch
APPRAISER:
We have a watch here. I brought it to our watch department, and, basically, the consensus is it's a 14-karat-gold Seema watch, and it's worth about $400 to $600. Now, that is if it doesn't have anything engraved on the back. We have a name: Mickey Mantle.
GUEST:
The watch was given to my dad, probably mid-'50s. We lived maybe three or four houses from Mickey in Commerce, Oklahoma, on Maple Street, and he gave it to me as a gift, and he always wore it. The back was lost at a dance, and he and I the next morning went back, and the man had found the back and kept it for him. He knew somebody would show up for it. And that's probably the most amazing thing, somebody finding that and not just putting it in their pocket.
APPRAISER:
I'm glad they did find it.
GUEST:
Yes, you bet.
APPRAISER:
Because it certainly makes a difference. Mickey Mantle is an icon. He is a baseball deity.
GUEST:
Yes, he was.
APPRAISER:
He came from Commerce, Oklahoma. Your dad and he were friends?
GUEST:
Well, yes, they were friends. And Dad worked in the lead and zinc mines, like so many of the people in that area did. When Mickey would come in on the off-season, my dad had a company truck, and he would ride with him and his crew.
APPRAISER:
They kind of went around and said hello to everybody, maybe did some hunting with Billy Martin?
GUEST:
Yeah. Billy came in with Mickey most every, every...
APPRAISER:
And you met Mickey many times when you were a kid, right?
GUEST:
Sure, yeah. In fact, we went to Chicago. Him and Billy took us all around Chicago.
APPRAISER:
I know there's a lot of envious people hearing that story. What this basically is is the award for the members of the all-star team in 1953. This was actually his second all-star game. And these were given to the players as sort of a gift.
GUEST:
Does it have anything to do with the magazine, "Look" magazine?
APPRAISER:
"Look" magazine must have sponsored the game. $400 to $600 is the price of a normal watch like that. But with this inscription, having come from Mickey, and having the provenance of your father, at auction, I'd estimate it at $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
(exhales) (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
Not bad.
GUEST:
Not bad.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. Mickey is the most collectible of modern-day ball players. He is on par with Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig, as far as sports collectibles go.
GUEST:
Pretty impressive.
APPRAISER:
Congratulations, Al. It's a wonderful piece.
GUEST:
Thank you, thank you.
Appraisal Details
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