While Vulcain may not be the most popular Swiss watch brand today, it is especially well known for one watch – for two different reasons. The Vulcain Cricket is known both as one of the first alarm wristwatches and as the ‘presidential watch’, gifted to American presidents since the mid-20th century!
President Harry S. Truman’s Vulcain Cricket / Credit: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library
After years of development, the Vulcain Cricket was released in 1947, powered by the Caliber 120. The Vulcain Cal. 120 used a hammer mechanism that would strike an internal organ and make a sound that resembled a cricket’s, hence the name ‘Cricket’. It had a 17-jewel movement with a 42-hour reserve and a 18,000 bph rate. The Vulcain Cricket was awarded first prize by the International Chronometry Competition by the Neuchâtel Observatory upon its release and, in 1953, a model was gifted to American president Harry Truman (president from 1945-1953), starting the ‘presidential watch’ fame. The Vulcain Cricket was a gift from the White House Press Photographer’s Association towards the end of this term and was engraved “One More Please” – a phrase Truman was known for at the time. A Vulcain Cricket was also gifted to presidents Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), Richard Nixon (1969-1974), and Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) – who actually went to Geneva to buy his! The Vulcain was extremely popular between the 1950s and 1960s, with new models like the dive watch version, the Vulcain Cricket Nautical, released in 1961. Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev was also gifted one in 1987, through the then Swiss president Pierre Aubert. Thus, the watch that was the first mass-produced alarm wristwatch, first made in 1947, became the presidential watch of the United States from 1953 onwards.
A Vulcain automatic dress watch for sale on Toronto Vintage Watches.
Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter are some of the other notable presidents that knowingly received the watch as a gift. And so, that’s how Vulcain is known for two things, but one watch. Unlike so many other brands that are known for multiple famous watches, it looks like the Vulcain Cricket is just that exceptional.
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
Altieri, Paul. “The History of the Vulcain Cricket: The First President’s Watch.” Bob’s Watches, October 11th, 2018, https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/resources/history-vulcain-cricket-presidents-watch.html.
Steinberg, Alfred. “Harry S. Truman.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-S-Truman.
“Dwight D. Eisenhower summary.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Dwight-D-Eisenhower#:~:text=Eisenhower%2C%20(born%20Oct.,MacArthur%20(1935%E2%80%9339.
“Richard Nixon.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Nixon.,MacArthur%20(1935%E2%80%9339.
“Johnson, Lyndon B.”Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lyndon-B-Johnson.
Strandberg, Keith W. “Vulcain – The Cricket conquers.” Europa Star, https://www.europastar.com/magazine/highlights/1004084736-vulcain-the-cricket-conquers.html.
Heim, Gabriel. “The watch of Presidents.” Swiss National Museum, March 2018, https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2018/03/the-watch-of-presidents/.