The Vulcain watch manufacturer was founded in 1858 and is the inventor of the alarm complication for wristwatches.  This innovation made the Vulcain watches popular with, among others, American presidents starting with Harry S. Truman, and thus the brand also has a reputation as “The Watch for Presidents”.   This year Vulcain is re-issuing a Nautical Cricket watch from 1970; this model looks largely faithful to the 1970 model — right down to the hesalite crystal and the famous Cricket caliber.  We’ll take a closer look below, including a little bonus for you collectors out there — I’ve located one of the originals for sale (details below).

Original Vulcain Cricket 1970

photo:  Modern Classic Vintage Watches (more on them below)

You can see that Vulcain clearly remained faithful to the original! The 42mm 316L steel case is 17.6mm thick — its depth allows for a resonance chamber for the alarm.  The shaded rings in the center are used for calculating decompression times when diving.  Comes on a black and orange strap. The Vulcain “Cricket” was introduced in 1961.  It was a groundbreaking watch, both for its 300m water resistance and its alarm function, audible underwater.  By 1970 Vulcain had introduced an updated model of its Nautical Cricket, which is the watch that has been reproduced for 2013.

Cricket Caliber V-10

hand-wound caliber, 2.5Hz/18,000 vph, alarm sounds for 15-20 seconds

Though the style of this particular watch does not suit my tastes, I am a big fan of “heritage” pieces that are done right — and this is definitely such a piece that Vulcain aficionados can appreciate. As I pictured above, an original (circa 1970) described as being in mint condition, with original crowns and crystal, is currently offered f0r $3,850 by ModernVintageClassic, Inc. of Marina Del Ray California – head on over and check it out!