VULCAIN 50s Presidents’ Watch «cricKet President» Limited Edition

The Manufacture Vulcain has created a unique series of 12 timepieces exlcuisvely presented by « Le cabinet de curiosités of thomas erber at Maison Kitsumé store and noMad hotel in nYc ». this model houses the famous cricket model.

Manufacture VULCAIN Landmarks

1858: the Ditisheim brothers made a grand entrance onto the watchmaking scene: their Manufacture was immediately noted for the quality of its products: complication watches, chronometers and chronographs. Located at the heart of the Neuchatel mountains, the cradle of Swiss precision, it was to receive international acclaim at the Chicago and Paris World Fairs.

1947: was a significant milestone in watchmaking history. That was the year Vulcain presented the first genuinely operational mechanical alarm wristwatch. It was equipped with what would become the legendary Cricket calibre. For the very first time, watchmakers and scientists had succeeded in making a mechanical alarm wristwatch loud enough to actually awaken its owner. For Vulcain, this period marked the start of a new era. The Cricket watch rapidly established itself and was notably worn by Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Johnson, thus earning it the nickname of “The Presidents’ Watch”. It also accompanied the major mountaineering and maritime expeditions of the 1950s.

2013: The Manufacture Vulcain has achieved substantial and noteworthy progress since its resurgence in 2002. In addition to various technical advances based on the legendary handwound Cricket movement, together with the design, development and production of a new self-winding Cricket alarm movement, the company has also created a balanced and varied collection able to meet the expectations of consumers looking for technical fine watchmaking models beating to the rhythm of finely crafted proprietary movements.

Located in Le Locle (Neuchâtel/Switzerland), the firm is building on its exceptional heritage with a steady stream of innovations enabling it to write a major new chapter in the history of the Vulcain brand.

First Alarm Watch

Given the need to protect itself against the competition, which paid close attention to the developments underway in Vulcain’s workshops, a patent application was immediately submitted for the first basic principles used. On September 27, 1943, Robert Ditisheim filed a patent application with the Swiss Federal Patent Office concerning a mechanism for a wristwatch alarm. This patent listed two striking systems; the pin and membrane system was the one eventually used. The patent was published on January 15, 1949 – two years after the first Cricket model was unveiled – and in principle should have protected Vulcain’s innovation from being copied. History was to show, however, that long court proceedings were in fact needed before the Manufacture Vulcain’s rights were actually acknowledged.

In 1947, five years after beginning its research, Vulcain introduced the world’s first truly operational alarm wristwatch. At its heart was the legendary Vulcain Calibre 120 alarm movement, better known today as the Cricket calibre. The technical characteristics of this world first were so remarkable that it was enthusiastically received right from the start by lovers of mechanical watches. It was the technical solution chosen – namely, a pin fixed on a membrane – that enabled the Vulcain Calibre 120 to produce the shrill sound of a cricket. When the hammer moved, the membrane resonated and the sound was then amplified by a pierced double back. Thanks to its double barrel, Vulcain’s manually wound Calibre 120 (12’’’) could sound its powerful alarm for nearly 25 seconds ! The entire mechanism was very easy to set, requiring only a crown at 3 o’clock, which could be wound in both directions (one way for the movement and the other for the alarm) and a button at 2 o’clock to set the alarm time. Another feature, rare for its day, was that this complication even had a centre seconds hand.

50s PRESIDENTS’ WATCH «CRICKET PRESIDENT» Limited edition of 12 pieces

This 12-piece limited edition of the iconic 50s Presidents’ Watch features a 42 mm steel case housing the legendary mechanical hand-wound Cricket V-16 alarm movement equipped with the brand-patented Exactomatic system ensuring improved rating regularity on the wrist.