[npoirier]

Hello,

I am trying to find contact information for an American distributor of the Vulcain Watch Company. We are putting on an exhibit of Presidential Timpeices at the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, PA and among the items will be President Lyndon Johnson's Vulcain Cricket wristwatch.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Noel Poirier

 

[noptexpert]

Try http://www.vulcain-uhren.de/en/contact.htm
Good luck.

 

[boscoe]

Are you certain it's not a Revue Thommen Crickett?
I believe Revue Thommen actually made the first Crickett given to Ike etc.

 

[noptexpert]

LBJ watch

The Cricket watch that LBJ owned was definitely a Vulcain

 

[timefinder]

I thought Spock was a Vulcain. :lol: :lol:

 

[boscoe]

I think this issue is the subject of some debate. Here's some more info:

The Cricket is also known (in RT advertising, anyway) as the "Presidents' Watch," because it was used by Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon. The August 31, 1964, issue of Newsweek magazine cover photo shows President Johnson wearing the watch, and RT used this photo in ads that ran (I suppose) during that period.

From 1947 until 1975 RT kept introducing new models of the Cricket: larger models (38mm), rotating-bezel models, date models, women's models, and an underwater model. For 10 years the watch was no longer produced, as RT struggled with the quartz revolution. In 1986 they reintroduced the Cricket, using designs from the 1947 - 1954 era.

 

[boscoe]

Also from Wikki, which is notoriously unreliable, but still it addresses the issue. The vulcain mentioned here on WTF is a "re-introduced" company I think:

Revue Thommen is a Swiss watch and aviation instrumentation manufacturer, established 1853 as Waldenburg clock and watch making company. Revue Thommen watch trademark now operated by Grovana Watch Co (2001).

After merge with Vulcain watch company, Revue Thommen produced the famous "president watch", Cricket in 1951. It was considered one of the finest alarm watches. Hamilton Watch Company produced watches using the Cricket ebauche.

Modern collections include Airspeed pilot watches, Le Club dress watches, Open Heart skeletons, Wallstreet and other.

Vulcain and Cricket watch brands are now (since 2001) owned by PMH SA, Le Locle.