Introduced in 1947, the Vulcain Cricket was the first truly audible mechanical alarm wristwatch, and it went on to grace the wrists of Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Johnson — earning it the nickname “The Presidents’ Watch.” Nearly 80 years later, Vulcain is giving its signature calibre a full-titanium overhaul.
The new Cricket Titanium is exactly what it sounds like: the 39mm case, bezel and guilloché-effect dial are all titanium, but so is the movement itself. The mainplate and bridges of the hand-wound Calibre V14 are machined from the metal — a rare feat in watchmaking, since titanium is notoriously difficult to machine — as are the anvil and Vulcain “V” that form the alarm’s sound system, visible through the sapphire caseback.
That last detail matters, because the anvil is what gives the Cricket its chirp. The alarm hammer strikes an anvil fixed to the caseback, vibrating it to amplify the sound. By exploiting titanium’s vibrational properties, the result is a softer, more refined take on the Cricket’s traditionally harsh sound. The movement retains its defining architecture: two independent barrels (one for timekeeping, one for the roughly 20-second alarm), a 52-hour power reserve and Vulcain’s Exactomatic force-regulating system.
Best for collectors who want a genuinely useful mechanical complication — and a conversation piece with presidential provenance — the Cricket Titanium is limited to 100 pieces, each assembled in-house in Le Locle.
Vulcain