Benrus
Benrus was founded in New York in 1921 by Benjamin Lazrus and his two brothers, and the name joins the first syllable of his first name to the last syllable of the family name. The three pooled $5,000 to import Swiss movements and case them in the city, from the Hippodrome building in the jewellery district, which is still the company's address. A Charles Lindbergh campaign followed in 1926, and the 1929 Airman, with its cut-corner case and eagle-head corners in black enamel, was billed as the official watch of National Air Transport, later United Airlines. The 1940s Sky Chief, the brand's first chronograph, was sold as the 'Official Watch of Famous Airlines'.
Postwar, Benrus coined the Dial-O-Rama jump-hour watch in 1956 and made wrist alarms, then became the sole winner of the MIL-W-3818 contract for the DTU-2A field watch, produced from 1964 for US troops in Vietnam. Its civilian sibling, the #3061, rode Steve McQueen's wrist in the 1968 film Bullitt, and the Ultra Deep diver was rated to 666 feet. The Type I and Type II, introduced in 1972 under the MIL-W-50717 contract for UDT, Navy SEALs, and special operatives, ran until 1980 and were never sold to the public. The name later changed hands several times, and today's trademarks are held by Benrus Holdings, LLC, with the company based in New York and its watches Swiss made.
The current line is built on reissues. The Type 3X Zulu (US$2,950) carries the Type I and II legacy forward, the original Type I and Type II return as mil-spec reissues at US$1,795 with M1 and UJ variants at US$1,995, and the DTU line runs from the DTU-2A/P at US$990 to the Phantom, Shield, and UB at US$1,595, with Super-LumiNova and 10 ATM. The 2025 #3061 reissue is a 39.5mm 12/24-hour watch on the ETA 2892 (42 hours, transparent caseback) at US$1,895–1,995. The Sky Chief is a 36mm steel pilot's chronograph on the ETA 2894, with a double-domed sapphire crystal and 100 metres, in Stratus Grey and Cirrus White at US$3,950, and the Ultra-Deep is a 36.5mm twin-crown supercompressor tribute with a Soprod P024 and 200 metres at US$1,195.
Press coverage has included Hodinkee on the Sky Chief's return in April 2026 and Mainspring on the #3061 BU. Every watch carries a two-year warranty. Across the current range, prices run from US$990 to US$3,950.