Vulcain Cricket Titanium

For nearly 80 years, the legendary Cricket calibre has alerted its wearer with the same unmistakable cricket-like sound, it was time to modernise it. With this new “full titanium” edition, Vulcain explores new territories through the use of this innovative material. Like every Cricket movement, this limited serie of 100 pieces is assembled in-house at Le Locle.

When the Manufacture in Le Locle created the first reliable and truly audible mechanical alarm wristwatch in 1947, could it have imagined the success this horological gem would enjoy across the Atlantic? A wristwatch capable of waking its wearer with the distinctive sound of a cricket. Since then, Vulcain’s legendary Cricket calibre has established itself as an icon of modern watchmaking and remains the flagship model of the collection today.
 Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Johnson… all wore this alarm watch, earning it the enduring nickname: “The Presidents’ Watch.”

Titanium, a New Asset for Modern Watchmaking

For this new calibre, Vulcain has chosen titanium, a material renowned for its many advantages. In this exceptionally lightweight calibre, the movement’s structural components, including the mainplate and bridges, are all crafted from titanium— a rare distinction in watchmaking. To showcase the beauty of the movement through the sapphire caseback, the bridges are adorned with Côtes de Genève finishing, while the screws are blued. The train bridge is furthermore engraved with the word “Titane”.

While titanium offers an outstanding strength-to-weight ratio, it is also considerably more difficult to machine and requires exceptional expertise throughout the watchmaking process. Adapting the mechanical alarm mechanism to this highly technical material demanded extensive development and fine-tuning. From manufacturing through to final assembly by the watchmaker, every stage requires meticulous attention when machining or fitting the various steel components and jewels onto the bridges and mainplate, involving numerous technical adaptations throughout the process.

From an acoustic perspective, Vulcain has mastered the vibrational properties of titanium to allow the sound to resonate more efficiently. Innovation can now also be heard through the alarm system itself, with the anvil and Vulcain “V” crafted from titanium. The result is a softer, more refined interpretation of the Cricket’s traditionally strident song — lighter, more refined and unmistakably modern.

A New Case Design

With this new interpretation of the Cricket, Vulcain remains faithful to its heritage while demonstrating its ability to evolve its iconic timepiece for the 21st century. The 39 mm case, bezel and dial are all crafted from titanium. Nickel-plated hour markers and polished hands — blued for the hours and minutes, black for the seconds — stand out against the grey guilloché-effect dial.

The defining characteristics of the Cricket movement remain unchanged.

A truly functional alarm, the innovation of 1947: While the first alarm wristwatches began appearing at the start of the 20th century, their lack of acoustic power remained a major challenge for many watchmakers. Miniaturising such a mechanism while preserving sufficient energy for both the movement and a genuinely audible alarm proved extremely difficult. Following extensive research and five years of development, Robert Ditisheim introduced a truly innovative concept with the Calibre 120 in 1947. If an insect as small as a cricket can be heard from over 30 metres away simply by rubbing its wings together, then a small watch case should be capable of doing the same — giving birth to the name “Cricket” movement.

For the first time, the alarm function became genuinely practical — audible, reliable and suitable for everyday use. The distinctive feature of the Cricket movement lies in its alarm hammer, which strikes an anvil fixed directly to the caseback, causing it to vibrate and amplify the sound. Operation remains straightforward, with a crown positioned at 3 o’clock for time-setting and winding, and a pusher at 2 o’clock dedicated to the alarm function.

In the early 2000s, the original calibre was modernised with more refined finishing. The Calibre V10 was introduced, comprising 157 components, before subsequent evolutions added additional complications.

The Exactomatic: this proprietary Vulcain system acts as a force regulator by stabilising the energy transmitted to the balance wheel. It ensures consistent precision and constant amplitude, regardless of the state of the power reserve. The new titanium movement retains its two barrels operating entirely independently. The first barrel powers the timekeeping function, while the second stores the energy required for the mechanical alarm — the unmistakable “Cricket” sound.

With its distinctive colour and exceptional wearing comfort, there is little doubt that this new Cricket model, limited to 100 pieces, will win over a new generation of enthusiasts. In a world increasingly shaped by appointments and notifications, this timepiece — equipped with an alarm designed for everyday practicality — lends itself to far more uses than that of a simple wake-up call.

This acoustic optimisation, fully aligned with the Cricket DNA, promises many more surprises as the manufacture approaches the 80th anniversary of its legendary calibre…

Technical specifications

Vulcain Cricket Titanium

Limited edition of 100 pieces

Case

• Material: Grade 5 titanium
• Bezel: titanium
• Caseback: sapphire crystal caseback with titanium anvil fixed to the Vulcain “V”, also crafted from titanium

Dial and hands

• Dial: grey titanium dial with guilloché effect, nickel-plated indexes, white printed marking
• Hands: blued hour and minute hands, black seconds hand, nickel-plated alarm hand with black arrow tip

Movement

• Vulcain Cricket Calibre V14, assembled in Le Locle
• Manual-winding mechanical movement
• Number of parts: 157
• Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour
• Power reserve of 52 hours
• Alarm duration: approximately 20 seconds
• Blued screws
• Côtes de Genève finishing and “Titane” engraving on the train bridge
• Titanium movement blanks

Functions/Indications

• Hours, minutes, central seconds, alarm

Strap and buckle

• Black calfskin leather strap with quick-change system

MSRP

• CHF 6'200 / EUR 6'760 / USD 7'670 / GBP 5'850

For more information, please visit vulcain.ch