Vulcain was founded in 1858 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and manufactured pocket watches until the mid-1940s, when it turned to wristwatches. The idea of an alarm watch was not new at the time, with attempts having already been made by competing companies at the beginning of the century, but these had never really led to mass production, due to significant technical challenges: their alarm was not loud enough, and their timekeeping performances were made unreliable due, precisely, to the presence of the alarm function.
In 1947, Vulcain solved these accuracy problems by using two barrels instead of one. This meant that the energy needed to operate the alarm was not drawn from the same source as that used to operate the timekeeping part of the watch. The volume of the alarm was a more difficult problem to solve. Physicist Paul Langevin, consulted by Vulcain, looked to nature for inspiration. If a tiny little cricket could produce a sound that can be heard over great distances, then surely it was possible to reproduce this principle in a watch, he reasoned. After several years of development, Vulcain patented their innovative method, which used a hammer to strike an internal membrane, while a perforated double case back was used to act as an echo chamber to amplify the alarm sound.
With such technical prowess, all that Vulcain needed was a clever advertising campaign to popularize its new model. Then something unexpected happened. In 1953, as Harry S. Truman's term was coming to an end, the White House press photographers gave the American president a Vulcain Cricket watch in 14-carat gold engraved on the back "One More Please", a nod to this phrase that celebrity photographers constantly repeat to their subjects. This watch is now in the Truman Presidential Library & Museum. This was the birth of a strong and lasting bond between the Vulcain alarm watch and the presidents of the United States.
Eisenhower, for example, wore one at a press conference announcing new tariffs on Swiss watches, during which his alarm went off – everyone was therefore amused by the situation's comical aspect. On 20 May 1955, the American National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors presented Vice President Richard Nixon with a Vulcain Cricket after he gave a speech. In 1960, he wrote a letter to the Swiss manufacturer: “[My Vulcain Cricket] It has given excellent service over the past five years and has served as my alarm clock around the world.” In 1988, Keijo Paajanen, who had taken over the manufacturer at the time of the quartz crisis in the Swiss watch industry, presented a Vulcain Cricket to President Ronald Reagan. Then to George W. Bush in 1990 – at the same time, Mikhail Gorbachev also received a Vulcain Cricket, which he later wore on the cover of Time Magazine. President Gerald Ford was also presented with a Vulcan Cricket by Keijo Paajanen in 1995, on the occasion of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords. In 1997, it was Bill Clinton's turn to receive his watch. And so on, up to Barack Obama and Donald Trump more recently.
The American president most associated with the Vulcain Cricket undoubtedly remains Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a notorious fan, having been photographed with several models on his wrist throughout his life. He even donated one such watch to his presidential museum. A few years ago, a letter was found, in which LBJ wrote to Vulcain: "I am deeply grateful for your kindness in preparing my Cricket wrist alarm watch. I value it highly and feel somewhat less than dressed without it." His admiration for this watch went so far as to make him ask his colleagues, on the occasion of an official trip, to scour Geneva and buy all the Crickets available (around 200) to then gift them to his hosts and partners! Other witnesses of the time even say that LBJ often programmed his alarm watch to ring during certain meetings, so that he could leave them earlier. The volume of the Cricket alarm was such that the Secret Service, responsible for protecting American presidents, more than once believed there was a bomb in the room!
Our watch belongs to the very first series of Crickets, and is thus equipped with the Vulcain 120 caliber, a mechanical, manual-winding movement equipped with a second independent barrel for the alarm function (20 seconds), which at its introduction defined a new standard of quality and functionality for alarm watches. Its silver dial is in very good condition, as are its luminous hands and Arabic numerals (radium base). The stainless steel case has a double screwed back, domed and perforated to obtain an echo chamber to increase the volume of the alarm, an alarm activation/deactivation pusher at 2 o'clock, and a plexiglass glass replaced anew for perfect transparency.
A rare opportunity to get your hands on the most desirable and sought-after version of this historic model, here superbly preserved and having undergone a particularly high-end overhaul that earned it the honors of the École d'Horlogerie de Paris.
