The Curious Case of Vulcain...

Okay, it's been a minute. As many readers know, I've been in a 25-year love/hate relationship with Vulcain. Though the players have changed multiple times, the product line shuffled more often than the cards in a dealing shoe at the old Tropicana's blackjack tables, and the marketing efforts about as understandable as the instruction manual for your car - that although printed in three different languages, the car company did not take the time or the effort to separate them into three different sections ; )

As you may have heard, we have a little, informal public opinion poll happening here in the lower 48 next Tuesday. Nothing too important, but curious to relate we hold it every 4 years.

Okay, so what does the US election have to do with watches, and Vulcain in particular? Well, curious to relate, Harry S. Truman was given one by a grateful group of White House photographers as a "Going Away" present in 1953. President Eisenhower wore one as well, but how and when he bought or received his remains a mystery. Lyndon Johnson was the original Vulcain evangelist, buying not only for himself, but for friends, dignitaries, etc.,. And Richard Nixon received his as a thank you for a speech.

I've spent the last 25 years researching the Cricket and the presidential connection, and the second version of my book on the subject will be dropping shortly after the US election next week.

But I will be spending this weekend spooling out some content for you, right here on "The Blog Formerly Known As Tempus Fugit" - Henki Time.

And thanks are due to some folks who helped throughout - Carla Duarte the former CEO of Vulcain / Anonimo -

Michel Ditisheim, one of the Godfathers of the Ditisheim/Paajanen Crickets -

And the Paajanen family, past and present - Kiitos!

As for the current team at Vulcain - I've  received... 

crickets!

So stay tuned, I'm going to deliver this direct to the public, no special advertising or marketing content ; )

A President's Day Special - The Vulcain Cricket, The Presidents of the US.

It is well known that Harry Truman was the first US President to receive a Vulcain Cricket. What is not well known is that he did not receive it from Vulcain. He received it from the White House News Photographer's Association. 

There is a great photo of the presentation which you will be able to see in the upcoming second version of the Cricket and the Presidents. But for now the watch itself -

Courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

Courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

It is also well known that Dwight Eisenhower was a Vulcain Cricket owner - although nobody is exactly sure how he came to own one. He was more known for wearing his Rolex, but that's politics for you.

Courtesy of Vulcain / Paajanen Family

Perhaps the greatest fan of the Vulcain Cricket while in the Oval Office was Lyndon Johnson. He had more than one, and also purchased a BUNCH of them to gift to staff and dignitaries, and if President Johnson's White House calendar / diary records are to be believed, one recipient was Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara.

And finally there was Richard Nixon who received his Vulcain as a thank you for a public speaking engagement while Vice President.

And he wore his Vulcain Cricket A LOT!

Courtesy of the Nixon Presidential Library

Again - none of these watches were presented by the brand, it all happened wonderfully organically.

It wasn't until a family jeweler based in Helsinki Finland met with the son of the inventor of the Vulcain Cricket that a true tradition of Vulcain presenting a Cricket to the President (either former or current) President of the United States. And that was kicked off with a gift of a Vulcain Cricket to then US President Ronald Reagan.

There is a lot more to this story, and when my updated book about the US Presidents and the Vulcain Cricket comes out, you can read all about it ; )

The Curious Case of the Cricket - Or the Importance of Being Earnest

Or the importance of being earnest.

Regular readers of the "Blog Formerly Known As Tempus Fugit" can attest that I am, indeed, a serious fan of the Vulcain Cricket. I have owned four over the years, 2 vintage which were passed on to other owners, and two modern versions. The one above my most recent addition. The one below is one of the Ditisheim / Paajanen Crickets in stainless steel -

But my interest goes well beyond the watches. I am also interested in the history of the brand.

I have visited the former factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds (above), as well as the current one in Le Locle (below).

And I have met the two most pivotal figures in the history of the Watch of the Presidents, Michel Ditisheim -

And Keijo Paananen -

And I, like many people who cover Watch Town was very excited to learn that there were new models coming out. And that's when things got weird.

For quite some time, Vulcain and Anonimo have been joined at the hip owing to the purchase of each by an owner who spends the majority of his time in Luxembourg. If my admittedly sometimes foggy memory serves there has been a bit of a musical chairs at the top level. Most recently Carla Duarte was at the tiller -

She stepped away last autumn, and since then there has been no clear signal as to who would be stepping in to run things. Prior to Ms. Duarte there was Aldo Magada. Now even more curious to relate was that during Ms. Duarte's tenure, a brand consultant was brought in by (assumedly) the owners. There was quite a bit of buzz, but it seems that perhaps sales were not as robust as hoped for. I can only base this the two models that Vulcain partnered with Revolution / The Rake on. The first selection was a limited series of 4 pieces with 25 available in each execution (2 versions in 36 mm, 2 versions in 39 mm). These have been in the market place for over a year now, and if the Revolution store front is anything to go by, they have not sold through. The same goes for the second version that was launched in May of last year, and again, if the Revolution store site is a barometer, it seems that as of this writing, there have not been 50 customers. 

And so now we find ourselves in February of 2024. To the best of my understanding there has not been a new appointment at the CEO level.

One last odd development - a limited edition collector's Cricket paying homage to a member of one of the founding families - The tribute to "André Didixein" -

https://vulcain.ch/products/vulcain-cricket-didixein

I thought it was sort of intriguing and was happy to see that there was finally some  in the family behind the brand, as I count one of the last surviving members from the original Vulcain as a friend - Michel Ditisheim. He is still alive and well and living within minutes (admittedly by driving) of the current Vulcain HQ. I wonder if anyone working on the project reached out to him?

Here's the thing. I know that nothing lasts forever. Things change, brands change hands, employees, managers, CEOs - even owners, come and go. The only certainty is change. With that being said, I would encourage whoever emerges at the top of Vulcain to reach out to the people who know the history, who know the brand background and can help them truly connect the past to the future. 

But that's just one fan's opinion ; )

The Presidents And Vulcain - Joe Biden

And now we get to one of the most misunderstood Vulcain/Presidential connections.

Joe Biden was gifted a Vulcain Cricket from the Paajanen family, Keijo Paajanen specifically. It was presented to him while he was still Vice President in 2011. In fact, he received his even before the Vulcain Cricket that Keijo presented President Obama. It is also worth noting that President Biden is the one President in modern times who actually paid for and kept the gift that he received. And also interesting to relate, his was the "base" model - stainless steel. It is, in fact, just like this one -

As Keijo's brother Rauno put it in his communication with Penelope Colston of the New York Times, in many ways it's as if Keijo gave the Cricket to Joe Biden first as he maybe suspected what might be in the future for Amtrak Joe, and there is a slight hint of sadness when I think about this, because I also wonder (in my own way) whether Keijo somehow knew that his time was limited, and that he would not get a chance to present a Vulcain to Joe Biden himself when he actually became President. This is what Keijo's brother Rauno shared with Ms. Colston -

"As I said in the first reply, our family and many others in Finland see the US as a safeguard that Finland can stay as a part of the Western World. The Winter War experience in the family is passed to the future generations. Our family wanted to thank the Presidents for paying a visit to our country. I quote Joe Biden´s letter here:

'Please know it is the kindness of people like you that continually renew my confidence about what we all can achieve together.'

It is a mutual feeling."

Rauno Paajanen

The Presidents And Vulcain - One For The Gipper

Just over 33 years since the last known presentation of a Vulcain Cricket to a US President past, present, or future (to Richard Nixon by the National Association of Watch and Clock Makers in 1955), Ronald Reagan visited Helsinki, Finland on his way to one final summit meeting in Moscow with the Soviet leader who was first presented with a Cricket directly from the brand just one year prior - Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev.

And history (at least in terms of watch collecting) was about to be made. Several US Presidents had received or owned Vulcain Crickets up to this point. But insofar as the Vulcain company records indicate, not to mention the personal recollections of Michel Ditisheim, the company had never presented a Vulcain Cricket to a US President (sitting, past or future) up to this point.

Unbeknownst to most everyone, a family jeweler in Helsinki, Finland had been working on a special surprise for future US Presidents. What would later prove to be one of the most impressive "soft power" marketing strategies in the watch business, really started out as a sincere and heartfelt thank you.

Jouko Paajanen was the owner of that family jewelry store. But he was not originally from Helsinki. His family had lived fairly close to the Finland/Soviet border when the Winter War saw a young Jouko and his family flee their homes to escape an advancing Soviet army. His son Keijo remembered it this way -

"As many watch historians and fans know, there was in the past a tradition of presenting a Vulcain Cricket to US Presidents. We wanted the great story to continue and also because our family has always wanted to have good relations with the USA. My father and his family escaped from advancing Russians (Soviets) in 1939."

At some point in the 1980s (and despite my asking everyone involved, nobody remembers exactly when), Jouko and Keijo met with Michel Ditisheim in Switzerland, with the idea of ordering a collection of Vulcain Crickets to present to US Presidents visiting Helsinki. There was but one small problem - the Vulcain company was dormant. But the Cricket was still alive, and chirping - as the Thommen Revue Cricket.

Courtesy of Paajanen Jewelers

This was, essentially, the same watch but under a new livery. So a deal was struck, and Mr. Ditisheim agreed to create a special series of Crickets, but with a dial and case back indicating Vulcain. This made sense for everyone involved. The Paajanens had been loyal customers of Vulcain, and later of Revue Thommen. More than a business relationship, there was a genuine friendship between the two families.

The Paajanens ordered 100 pieces, in stainless steel, and stainless steel with gold plating. The gold plated models would be presented to Presidential visitors, and the balance would be sold exclusively by the Paajanens in their store. And while I have stated in the past that this was solely the effort of idea of the Paajanen, I have learned that in fact that while the Paajanen's did indeed order and pay for 100 pieces, none of it would have been possible without the willingness of Michel Ditisheim to partner with them on a project that would not truly benefit him or Revue Thommen as the watches bore the name Vulcain on the dial and case backs, and were only sold in Helsinki, Finland. But having spent some time with Mr. Ditisheim, I have come to learn that at heart, he is a bit of a romantic. And having spent some time in La Chaux-de-Fonds as well as the new Vulcain HQ in Le Locle, it is abundantly clear that there would be no Vulcain as it is today without the contributions made by the Ditisheims, and Michel Ditisheim in particular.

But back to 1988 -

A customer of the Paajanen's had connections of some sort at the US embassy, and through protracted arrangements, it was agreed that a Vulcain Cricket would be delivered. But nothing is ever that simple. The watch was delivered to the embassy a full week in advance, but it remained unknown up until the very last minute as to whether or not the watch would find its way to President Reagan when he visited. 

Spoiler Alert -

Courtesy of the Paajanen Family

And so, nearly 4 decades later, the Cricket was once again alive and well and chirping on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Tune in next time, when the Cricket hops to the wrist of a high school kid who instead of heading to the Ivy League, opted to enlist as a Naval Aviator following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Presidents And Vulcain - The Birth of a New Tradition

"As many watch historians and fans know, there was in the past a tradition of presenting a Vulcain Cricket to US Presidents. We wanted the great story to continue and also because our family has always wanted to have good relations with the USA. My father and his family escaped from advancing Russians (Soviets) in 1939."

Keijo Paajanen - 2012

Photo credit HEIKKI SAVOLAINEN 1997

You couldn't really call it fate, it seemingly had all of the earmarks of a grand marketing plan.

But as Branch Rickey once famously opined - "Luck is the residue of design". The next chapter of the Cricket and Presidents would be written by two families - one in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland the other in Helsinki, Finland. I have come to think of the late 80s, 90s and early 00s as the Ditisheim/ Paajanen era. 

Up until 1988, the partnership between the Vulcain Cricket and the Presidents of the United States was on more than one occasion the culmination of a wonderful set of coincidences. Yes, Vulcain was wise enough to capitalize on the fact that several US Presidents wore a Vulcain Cricket through some great advertising back in the 50s, but no watch had ever been presented to a President (sitting, future or former) by Vulcain. Although Michel Ditisheim had sent a Cricket addressed to the attention of Mikhail Gorbachev (care of the Kremlin) back in 1987, it remained unknown to him (Ditisheim) whether or not the watch had indeed arrived and been accepted by Gorbachev. And not unlike when peanut butter met jelly, fate would bring two families together who would actually create the tradition that has been misunderstood for so long by so many.

So I turn back to a conversation that I had with Keijo Paajanen back in 2012. Keijo explained that through a meeting he and his father had with Michel Ditisheim in Switzerland, the idea to manufacture and present a new  version of the Vulcain Cricket was born. At that time (the late 1980s) Vulcain had essentially gone dormant, and Revue Thommen was manufacturing and marketing a Cricket alarm watch of its own. 

This was at least in part due to the fact that Michel Ditisheim, the son of the Cricket's creator, was then Director of MSR (Montres Suisse Reunion) and a share-holder of Revue Thommen. And therefore the Vulcain Crickets that were produced in this era bore the Revue Thommen logo on the crown and buckle of those presented to the Presidents and sold to the general public by the Paajanens.

At the time, the Paajanens also carried the Revue Thommen Cricket, but along with Mr. Ditisheim they felt that the Vulcain name should make a comeback and grace the dial of the Cricket that would be presented to visiting Presidents as well as sold (exclusively) to customers in Helsinki, Finland. The Paajanens ordered 100 new Vulcain Crickets, and the die was cast.

Tune in next time as the Cricket awakes from a long hibernation, takes flight once more and lands on the wrist of a native of Tampico, Illinois who would go on to be the Governor if California.

The Presidents And Vulcain - The Cricket Travels East For An Unexpected Stop In Moscow

With Vice President (only later to become President) Richard Nixon leaving public life in the 1970s and Gerald Ford replacing him, the Oval Office was decidedly "Cricket Free" for quite some time. For those of you following along at home: Up to this point, Vulcain had not presented a Vulcain Cricket to a US President (sitting or future). Once again, a huge thank you to Michel Ditisheim for a lot of background that he provided.

When I was meeting with Mr. Ditisheim back in November, I asked him about a Time Magazine cover that featured a noted world leader wearing what appeared to be a Vulcain Cricket. And it was during this conversation that the TRUE identity of the first "President" to receive a Vulcain Cricket from the Vulcain company, was not born in the US. In fact, the first to be presented a Cricket directly from Vulcain was not born in Virginia, Ohio or New York, but rather by the Yegorlyk River, in Privolnoye, Stavropol kray, Russia, U.S.S.R.

"Wait, what's that you say? The first time Vulcain presented the "Watch of the Presidents" to a president was to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union?"

Courtesy of Time Magazine

Yes watch fans, the Soviets beat the US to space with Sputnik, and Gorbachev beat any US President in being presented with a Vulcain Cricket, directly by Vulcain.

What has been missed, or simply assumed by most accounts of the Cricket and the US President connection was that the company had given the watches themselves. This was never the case up to this point. And it is quite intriguing that Michel Ditisheim, the son of the inventor of the Cricket would be the one to set up his father's invention on its second act on the world's geopolitical stage.

What Mr. Ditisheim explained to me was that the idea to give Mr. Gorbachev a Vulcain Cricket came about in what I often refer to as the "between time". This is the time when Vulcain had slowed down its production and became part of the Manufactures d'Horlogerie Suisses Réunies SA, or MSR. This group was formed in 1961 and included Revue Thommen, Buser Freres, Phenix, and later Marvin (in 1976).

Mr. Ditisheim with the help of Vulcain enthusiast (and member of the Swiss Federal Council) Pierre Aubert helped to arrange the presentation of a Vulcain Cricket to the leader of the Soviet Union. The watch was delivered to the Kremlin in 1987, and then... nothing. Not a peep. Mr. Ditisheim could not have been blamed if he might have felt it was a failure as a PR plan. Three years passed, and  it wasn't until he went to his mailbox, and took out that week's copy of Time Magazine's International Edition (December 30, 1990, number 53) that he knew that the Vulcain Cricket had not only been successfully delivered, but had found its way onto Mr. Gorbachev's wrist! Vulcain never received any sort of acknowledgement or thank you. But there it was, the first ever Vulcain Cricket presented to a sitting "president", splashed large across the front cover of (at that time) one of the world's most important news magazines.

And the Vulcain Cricket was about to take to the air again, and travel westward to land again on the wrist of a former US President. But not quite as far west as you might think. Tune in next time to read about how a family jeweler worked with Michel Ditisheim to reclaim its title as the Watch of the Presidents.

A Grand Day Out - Visiting Vulcain HQ in Le Locle Part 3

Any story about visiting Vulcain HQ would not be complete without a tour of what may be a pretty phenomenal museum in the not-too-distant future. 

Although there are administrative offices on the second (first) floor, and an atelier on the third (second) floor, there is a magnificent, sun soaked area on the first (ground) floor that will make an amazing, albeit small museum should Vulcain ever decide to create one -

Lots of light, lots of beautiful vitrines, and luckily, lots of treasures to display -

This is the same (not exact, but the same) Vulcain Cricket that was presented to President Barack Obama upon his election, and curious to relate? That was the very first Vulcain Cricket ever given as a gift to a United States President.

But beyond that, lots of fun pieces from the archives -

But the archives run far deeper than the past 50 years. The thing that gets lost in all of the (justifiable) buzz about the Cricket, is that Vulcain was a pretty significant producer even before back in the day -

And this includes some pretty esoteric pieces -

But a visit to the Vulcain HQ will also reveal quite a bit of history - some downright historical, and some relatively recent.

While it is certainly true that watch brands are fond of professional footballers (soccer players) and vice-versa, it is worth noting that back before it was a fashionable (or today, overdone) notion to partner with players or teams, Vulcain was one of the first to dip their toes in the partnership waters -

With Real Madrid (above) and Fiorentina 

(below) -

And continued on into more recent times partnering with a Grinnell College graduate from Chicago who opted to pursue music rather than electrical engineering.  

His name was Herbert.  

While we may always wonder what he might have contributed in terms of inventions and developments to improve our daily lives, I personally feel that the world is a much better place thanks to Head Hunters and Future Shock, and Herbie Hancock made the right career choice -

And a small bit of Henki lore - the idea for the Herbie Hancock partnership was born in a seafood restaurant in Beverly Hills, California back in 2011 with the (then) new distributor of Vulcain. I was having dinner with the new North American distributor Mark Wasserman who had just taken over Vulcain having formerly distributed Oris. Oris as you may know had done a slew of jazz musician partnerships, including one of Herbie Hancock's former bandleaders, the son of an East St. Louis dentist and Julliard drop-out, Miles Davis.

In terms of "Presidential" brand ambassadors, it is important to once again try to clarify some misinformation that has continued to swirl around the Vulcain Cricket and its relationship to the Commander in Chief. The Vulcain Cricket gifted to Barack Obama in 2010 was THE FIRST Vulcain Cricket gifted to a US President (sitting or former). 

In fact, it might surprise you to know that before Vulcain presented a Cricket (the Watch of the Presidents) to a US President, Vulcain actually presented a Cricket to the leader of the Soviet Union!  But that is a story that we will be picking up in the next installment of The Greatest Marketing Campaign That Never Was (a marketing campaign).  

Like all good things, my visit had to come to an end, but my nearly 24 year quest to compile a clear and accurate record of the Vulcain Cricket and its relationship with the Presidents of the United States continues. 

It has taken me from Helsinki Finland, to San Francisco, Basel Switzerland, on to Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, La Chaux-de-Fonds and finally to Le Locle.  But the quest continues, so please stay tuned!

And nearly 24 years later, our story will take us to Finland.

And I will introduce you to a family that with the help of the son of the inventor of the Vulcain Cricket reinvigorated the the legend of the Watch of the Presidents.

Until then - Tempus Fugit!