Watchlords

“…Keeps on Ticking”

In the 1950s and 1960s, Timex, a brand-named wristwatch, became something of an iconic American product through a long-running advertising campaign that used celebrities to pitch the product. Print ads, such as the one at right with New York Yankee baseball star, Mickey Mantle, were featured in the major magazines of the day. They showed Timex watches being subject to various kinds of “torture tests” to demonstrate their durability, shock resistance, and/or superior waterproofing. In the ad at right, the watch was taped to Mantle’s bat as he took batting practice.

The Timex “torture test” advertising was also used in TV ads, a series made popular by celebrity newscaster John Cameron Swayze who hosted the spots. A number of these ads also featured sports celebrities who doled out the tough treatment to the watches and/or supplied an endorsing statement. Swayze also hosted non-celebrity Timex ads in which the watch would be subject to other trials — whether placed in a washing machine or attached to the bow of a speed boat. Swayze had made a name for himself as a broadcaster and became a trusted national personality and a believable pitchman for Timex. For over 20 years — well into the 1970s — Swayze appeared in the advertising series with one kind of Timex watch or another being subject to various physical challenges to prove their durability, shock resistance, and/or superior waterproofing.

https://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/ke ... 50s-1990s/

In the early days of Invicta, fans used to recreate them. Surprisingly, most invicters survived being boiled, dropped in ice cold water, then frozen. Then vice versa.
Always loved the torture tests.