Giuseppe Marasco Throughout its more than 165-year-long history, Vulcain has time and again reaffirmed its reputation as a watchmaker of excellence, with benchmark-setting innovations and high quality mechanical timepieces designed, developed and produced at the Manufacture in Le Locle, the cradle of Swiss watchmaking.
Precise, timeless watches that today are being revived to the delight of collectors. In the beginning of the Vulcain revival, the focus had been on the worlds of diving and aeronautics, on the deep blue sea and the wide open sky. It’s now time for the turn of the wide open road: Vulcain is relaunching a universal chronograph, the Chronographe 1970’s.
Vulcain – Sporty, chic, sophisticated
The collections of Vulcain watches developed since 1885 contain original pieces that are just waiting to be reissued. It was while browsing through the original product catalogues from way back when that Guillaume Laidet, Vulcain consultant in charge of collections, and always on the lookout for vintage timepieces to revive, came across a true sleeping beauty: a chronograph from the 1970s, with a blue dial and gray counters.
The new Chronographe 1970’s with its 38mm diameter and 12.40 mm thick “step-case” is identical to the original and set to appeal to vintage chronograph lovers. It is available in 4 dial colors: blue, black, panda-silver and salmon (limited to 50 pieces). At its heart is a hand-wound SW510 M BH movement with a 63-hour power reserve – a feature appreciated by collectors and daily wearers alike.
1858… The flame of a watchmaking legend is lit
From the outset, the flame of Vulcain shone bright in the Swiss Jura mountains, already then, the cradle of Swiss precision watchmaking.
It is the story of two talented watchmakers, the Ditisheim brothers, , who soon forged for themselves a peerless reputation for precision engineering and excellence in the manufacture of complicated watches, minute repeaters, large and small chimes and perpetual calendars – watchmaking masterpieces that quickly garnered awards at numerous international exhibitions.
In Roman mythology, Vulcan (Hephaestus in Greek mythology) is the god of fire and volcanoes, the one who forged the swords of the gods, the deity venerated by blacksmiths in antiquity.
What better name for the forge of excellence founded by the Ditisheim brothers? And the bellows are again breathing fresh oxygen into the hearth: It is on the embers of a rich past that Tomorrow is forged!
1947… Setting the world on Cricket Time!
In 1947, Vulcain focused its longstanding expertise in horological complications on creating the perfect tool watch for the bustling business age – the first effective – and elegant! – alarm watch.
The now famous Cricket movement mechanically produced a vibration that was powerful enough, and could be sustained long enough, to wake its owner. It also fit in a normal-sized wristwatch case.
A world first! Around that time, President Harry S. Truman was holding a press conference at the White House when his Cricket alarm suddenly went off in the middle of a press conference… The rest is history and the Vulcain Cricket soon became a must-wear for the movers and shakers of the world.
Subsequently worn by Truman’s successors, it was soon nicknamed “The Presidents’ Watch” – Lyndon Johnson was particularly fond of his. To this day, each US president is presented with a Vulcain Cricket – and judging by the warm letters of thanks, it remains to this day a useful and much appreciated accessory.
Technical specifications
| Movement | SW510 M BH mechanical, hand-wound 68h power reserve |
| Case | 316L polished steel; diameter 38 mm; thickness 12.40 mm |
| Strap | leather or crocodile style; pin buckle |
| Glass | Double-domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment |
| Clasp | folding buckle |
| Price | 2 500 € / CHF 2 500 / 2 650 USD |
| WR | 5 ATM (50 meters) |
