Closed | Important watches – Saturday 16 May 2015

The history of Vulcain began in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1858 when the Ditisheim brothers started their watchmaking shop. From that, Maurice Ditisheim founded Vulcain, which got its name from the Roman god Vulcan, the Lord over fire and volcanoes. (Achilles Ditisheim later founded Movado in 1881 and Paul Ditisheim founded Solvil et Titus in 1892.)

The development of the model Cricket began in 1942. It took them five years to develop a movement with an alarm they thought sounded loud enough. The goal was reached by creating a mechanism where the hammer hits a membrane. The sound is then enhanced by a double case that works like a resonance chamber. Fully winded, the spring makes sure the alarm sounds for at least 20 seconds. The name "Cricket" was chosen for the alarm’s very special sound.

Cricket was a huge hit when it got released, especially in the USA. The president at the time, Harry S. Truman, was given one in 1953 and thereafter was every American president given a Vulcain watch, almost always a Cricket. The tradition was broken with George W Bush, but current president Barack Obama was given a very elegant Vulcain Cricket Anniversary Heart watch in 2008.