The Unlikely Watch Collector: U.S. Presidents Edition

From George Washington’s Jean-Antoine Lépine pocket watch to FDR’s Tiffany-signed Movado triple calendar to Donald Trump’s Vacheron Constantin Historiques Ultra-fine 1968, the combined watch collections of 45 different United States presidents is quite large. Too large, in fact, for one article to cover adequately.
 

With that in mind, this installment of The Unlikely Watch Collector will tell the fascinating stories of six presidential watches with historical or horological importance. Let’s get to it!
 

In researching this edition of The Unlikely Watch Collector, I was surprised to find a modest Midwestern man like Missouri native President Harry S. Truman owned a lot of wrist and pocket watches. Here are two historically significant watches owned by the 33rd president of the United States.

First up is the first time-zone wristwatch, the Flying Officer. Designed and manufactured by the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based Gallet, the Flying Officer was commissioned by Truman in 1939, when he was still “the Senator from Pendergast,” for pilots and navigators in the United States Army Air Forces.
 

Part of the Gallet Clamshell line, the Flying Officer had a 34mm stainless steel case. The black dial featured centered tachymeter rings for calculating different speeds and a white outer edge with 23 city names printed in black and red. Most importantly, it had a rotating 12-hour bezel that enabled the wearer to adjust time-zones. It was also only the second wrist-worn chronograph to have a water-resistant case. Once the United States entered World War II, the Gallet Flying Officer became the watch of choice for flight officers and pilots.

Most likely gifted to him by members of his senatorial staff, Truman’s Flying Officer, serial number 64112, has an engraved caseback that reads, “Col. Truman From Vic, Paul.”
 

Now for the second of his watches. During Truman’s time in the Oval Office (1945-1953), “Give ‘Em Hell Harry” favored the Universal Genève Tri-Compax Ref. 12551.

Launched at the 1944 Basel Watch Fair, the Tri-Compax was a groundbreaking chronograph and became the most popular chrono of the 1940s and 1950s. Interestingly, the “Tri” in Tri-Compax does not refer to sub-dials but to its three complications – moonphase, calendar, and chronograph.

While it is not known whether Truman was wearing his Tri-Compax when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, President Truman did have it on his wrist in Potsdam when he met with UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin to decide the fate of post-war Germany.
 

Put up for auction by Antiquorum in 1994, Truman’s Tri-Compax had a 36mm case made of 18-karat yellow gold with rectangular pushers. Its dial featured gold leaf hands, counters for hours and minutes, sub-dial for seconds, day and date indicators, moonphase, tachymeter indication, and chronograph-seconds scale graduated to 1/5 of a second. On the caseback was the inscription: “WORN AT POTSDAM July 1945 BY Harry Truman.”
 

Sold in 1994 for 23,000 CHF, the current whereabouts of President Truman’s Universal Genève Tri-Compax is a mystery.

In 1944, Rolex gave its 50,000th officially certified chronometer to the General of the Swiss Armed Forces during World War II. A few years later, in 1948, Winston Churchill was the recipient of the 100,000th. But then, in 1951, Rolex had another big decision to make: Who would be the honored recipient of the brand’s 150,000th officially certified chronometer?

Following the thematic trend of World War II leaders, the brand chose the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II and the newly appointed Supreme Commander of NATO – General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
 

As the first president known to own a Rolex, many mistakenly believe the 34th president owned a Rolex President Day-Date. However, the Day-Date wasn’t released until 1956, five years after then-General Eisenhower was gifted his Rolex by the brand. In truth, after some correspondence with Rolex’s Director René Jeanneret, the forever soldier-at-heart Eisenhower opted for the “just the facts” Rolex Datejust.
 

Eisenhower’s personalized Datejust ref. 6305 features a 36mm yellow gold Oyster case, yellow gold five-link Jubilee bracelet, silver dial, and a magnified date aperture with red numeral. Interestingly, its current silver sunburst dial with tritium luminescence is not the original but a service replacement, as Rolex didn’t start using the radioactive tritium on dials until the mid-1960s.
 

Finally, the caseback of Eisenhower’s Rolex was engraved with five stars, representing his general’s rank, the initials “D.D.E.,” and the date he was appointed to be the Supreme Commander of NATO, “12-19-1950.”
 

President Eisenhower also owned a Vulcain Cricket. Launched in 1947 and known for its incredibly loud built-in alarm, the Vulcain Cricket was extremely popular with both watch enthusiasts and executives. In fact, in addition to Eisenhower, Presidents Truman, Nixon, Johnson, Reagan, H. W. Bush, and Clinton all owned the notoriously noisy Cricket while in office.
 

However, Eisenhower’s Cricket is of particular interest because it might be the only watch in presidential history responsible for an embarrassing gaff. According to multiple sources I encountered while researching this article, President Eisenhower was holding a press conference meant to encourage higher tariffs on imported Swiss watches, when he was interrupted by the unmissable chirping of his Swiss-made Vulcain Cricket.

Is this story apocryphal? Perhaps. But after President Eisenhower was photographed wearing his Cricket in 1957, Vulcain seized the moment and advertised the watch as “The Watch for Presidents” and ran ads featuring the tagline, “Do as Ike does.”
 

While this Unlikely Watch Collector article barely scratches the surface of presidential watches, it gives a glimpse at some of the more unique timepieces in presidential history. Stay tuned to future Watchonista articles as we plan to highlight the watches of Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and more!