BENRUS

BENRUS was founded in 1921 as a watch repair shop in New York City by three Romanian immigrant brothers: Benjamin, Oscar, and Ralph Lazrus. The name combines 'Ben' from Benjamin and 'rus' from Lazrus. In the 1920s, they transitioned to manufacturing watchcases and assembling watches using Swiss movements imported from La Chaux-de-Fonds. The company moved to the historic New York Hippodrome building in 1923. During WWII, BENRUS halted watch production to manufacture timing systems for military munitions. The company secured U.S. military contracts and produced robust, water-resistant watches with luminous dials. Their military watches were issued to American servicemen from WWII through Vietnam, with the Type I and Type II becoming legendary among collectors. The 1940s-1960s were golden years, with innovations including the Sky Chief chronograph (1940), Dial-O-Rama jump hour watch (1957), Sea Lord diver, and Wrist Alarm (1963). Benjamin Lazrus passed in 1947, Ralph in 1960, leaving Oscar in control. Victor Kiam (later of Remington) acquired BENRUS in 1967. The quartz crisis of the 1970s devastated the company, leading to bankruptcy in 1977. Hampden Watch Company of Chicago acquired the brand in 1981, eventually selling to M.Z. Berger. In 2014, Giovanni Feroce acquired the license to transform BENRUS into a lifestyle brand, but lost control of trademarks in 2017. Today, BENRUS is owned by Benrus Holdings, LLC and continues producing heritage-inspired watches.