I now have two Vulcain Crickets after being a bit lucky finding an auction on eBay that was about to finish. Apparently, there were few (a couple actually) bidders for this rare and much sought after alarm watch. And so I was decisive in putting in the winning bid. It was more exciting than suspenseful as the previous bidders had not bid in 3 days. They, especially the last one, probably thought that this would go under the radar. It took some time for me to receive the watch as despite the more expensive courier service being used for shipping, it got delayed in custom's processing and the local leg of delivery due to the pandemic situation.
 |
| The watch has a black dial and combination of Hindu-Arabic numerals and bullets for hour markers. There are no day or date complications but obvious is the alarm feature. The alarm hand is at 6 o'clock. The alarm button is at 2 o-clock. The watch is manually wound by turning the crown counter-clockwise. The clockwise turning of the crown is for winding the alarm. |
 |
| Side view showing the crown at 3 o'clock and the alarm button at 2 o'clock. |
 |
| The other side view showing the overall good condition of the gold plated watch. |
 |
| The back showing the Cricket's signature design for what is considered the loudest alarms for these kinds of watches. There is also the serial number on the stainless steel cover. |
 |
| Close-up of the dial showing ageing for the lumes but otherwise the dial is in great condition for a 60+ year old watch. |
 |
| This is a gold plated watch (20 microns) |
 |
| Wrist shot the first time I wore the watch. I immediately changed the straps to an Hirsch pair I transferred from another vintage watch in my collection. |
 |
| Side-by-side: my two Vulcain Crickets |
 |
| Stock photo (from the seller) of the case back composed of 2 covers. What appears as a hub cap outer cover is shown at the top left with the Vulcain company etched on the inside. There is another (inner) cover protecting the movement. |
 |
| The watch is powered by a Vulcain 120 Cricket caliber that runs at 18,000 A/h with a potential power reserve of 42h. The alarm has a potential of 20seconds on a full wind. This movement was manufactured between 1947-1963, which places this watch to be manufactured during that period and on average during the 1950s. |
This one's definitely a keeper and I think will not be the last Vulcain Cricket that I will acquire. I should mention that I am looking for the variant produced with Revue, which is also called a Cricket.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment