In the sixties, Benrus was one of America’s largest watchmakers and produced around a million watches a year. It made the huge clock that had time at Pennsylvania station in New York City, delivered watches to the US Army and his timepieces worn by President John F. Kennedy, Steve McQueen, Charles Lindbergh and Babe Ruth.
Now, after an investment of millions of dollars due to a small private equity group, Benrus is back.
“I fell in love with the brand because of his history and interest,” said Michael Sweeney, the new chairman of the brand and a partner in an investment group that bought the name in 2017. “It was a top 3 of the American watchmaker, with Hamilton and Bulova. Now it is the only one who is still in his hands.”
Last week the Benrus brand was re -introduced to view exhibition in Geneva. The new collection included: The Model 3061, a steel -like piece of piece based on the watch that McQueen wore in the 1968 film “Bullitt”; The DTU-2A/P, a cuff watch of 34 millimeter inspired by a 1962 military watch worn during the Vietnam War; And the type 1 and type 2 models, both water-resistant up to 360 meters (1,180 feet), similar to watches worn in the 1970s by the American Navy seals and Army Rangers.
Benrus was founded in Manhattan in 1921 by three brothers from Romania; The name was a contraction of one of the names of the brothers, Benjamin Lazrus. The company later moved to Switzerland, a model that the current owners are planning to replicate: this year, Mr Sweeney said, Benrus will open Benrus facilities in the Swiss watch city of La Chaux-de-Fonds, although the head office will remain in the Hippodrome building on Sixth Avenue, the same afternoon it was brought.
“It is history that repeats itself,” Mr Sweeney said, adding that the company would rely on Swiss movements and production. “We don’t see production happening in the US”
The prices start at $ 964 for the DTU-2a/P and go up to $ 2,000. “We have looked at the drift to higher prices and we believe it has created a white space” for mechanical watches in the midrange, he said. “Swiss made watches from a cool brand between $ 1,000 and $ 2,000 – there is not much to offer. We meet a demand.”
If the brand name seems to be known, this may be because in recent years Mr Sweeney and his team have produced a handful of Limited-Limited Edition pieces that were sold via online points of sale such as the specialized watch site Hodinkee. “We have sold millions of dollars in watches over the past five years and now we are ready to do a global collection,” Mr Sweeney said, adding that he wants worldwide outlets at the end of the year. “We think we have a strong acceptance.”
