VULCAIN, CRICKET NAUTICAL, ALARM, WON FROM A 1965 EPISODE OF "THE PRICE IS RIGHT" FROM THE ORIGINAL OWNER'S FAMILY, REF. 2321A

Consigned by the original family, who won the present timepiece in a 1965 episode of “The Price is Right”, aired on June 9th , hosted by Skitch Henderson. The Vulcain, S 2321 is a legendary dive watch, rarely seen on the market. The present lot offers a chance to purchase an untouched and fresh to market timepiece, with unique provenance so closely tied to one of the most iconic American game shows.

The watch was developed and designed by Hannes Keller, Arthur Droz, and Max-Yves Brandly. Keller was a record-setting diver and the man who developed the concept of using a combination of gases (beyond just oxygen) in their tanks to help divers reach new depths and stay underwater longer.

The watch was designed with incorporated dive tables and an alarm function. Remarkably, it was also the deepest-rated watch of its time, with a 300-meter depth rating versus the 200-meter depth rating of some of its Rolex counterparts. The alarm was also used for reminding divers of their time to begin returning to the surface and also was described in advertising as a way for divers to communicate with each other while underwater.

This version features the earlier case made by Piquerez with flowing lugs as was introduced in 1961. Later research suggests that in 1962 the case was updated by Piquerez to have beveled lugs and that case was identical in shape to the one used by Jaeger-LeCoultre for their Polaris diver introduced commercially in 1965 with a 200-meter depth rating.

In the world of historic dive watches, this could be considered an epic and exceptional piece.