vintage Benrus

[hayday]

Hey all. There's a vintage Benrus on eBay I'm looking at. I don't know terribly much about Benrus so I'm hoping someone has a good starting point for me to do some research into determining authenticity, etc. The seller states it is from 1948. I tried typing "1948 Benrus" into Google but that unleashed a torrent of useless links. I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer.



I also posted this to the Vintage forum.

[tribe125]

I know nothing of vintage Benrus models, but I wouldn’t buy if that’s the only or best photo. Unless it’s shadow, the dial and 3 & 4 numerals appear to be water damaged.

[skywatch]

I think you might be disappointed in that one. While Benrus is known mostly for their military watches (Vietnam era especially) theirs were among the cheaper ones, and among the least desired of the category, with disposable movements. In their early days as a US company, I don't believe they were considered at the same quality as Hamilton, Waltham or the few others that survived from the pocket watch days. As Alan says, that's also a vague photo and might be hiding problems.

[is that my watch]

well looks like a 10k tank watch range but most came on rolled gold bracelets plus looks like might be water damaged to in the past and need clearer pics just thought if you like that sort skywatch was selling a Wittnauer tank watch for a very decent prices

[hayday]

I know nothing of vintage Benrus models, but I wouldn’t buy if that’s the only or best photo. Unless it’s shadow, the dial and 3 & 4 numerals appear to be water damaged.

That appears to be shadow, and there are other pics. Here is the movement:

[hayday]

I think you might be disappointed in that one. While Benrus is known mostly for their military watches (Vietnam era especially) theirs were among the cheaper ones, and among the least desired of the category, with disposable movements. In their early days as a US company, I don't believe they were considered at the same quality as Hamilton, Waltham or the few others that survived from the pocket watch days. As Alan says, that's also a vague photo and might be hiding problems.

I plan to get a tonneau case at some point, and thought, what the heck, look at vintage ones to see what's out there. Maybe go vintage instead of getting a modern one. That one just jumped out at me so I thought I'd do a little digging into it. I'm also looking at a couple of Elgins, but I doubt I get one. I just need to do some research in case I decide to go the vintage route.

[skywatch]

I plan to get a tonneau case at some point, and thought, what the heck, look at vintage ones to see what's out there. Maybe go vintage instead of getting a modern one. That one just jumped out at me so I thought I'd do a little digging into it. I'm also looking at a couple of Elgins, but I doubt I get one. I just need to do some research in case I decide to go the vintage route.

If you are aiming at American vintage, Hamilton or Elgin would be the best bet. In my grandfather's time, Hamiltons were considered on par with Rolex, Omega and Longines. (Actually, in the 20s-30s, they were probably better.) You can often find good value in vintage Gruen from that time, sometimes in great condition. American Bulova from the '50s also quite good. I must admit that the movement photo doesn't look bad.

[hayday]

I already have a 1955 Hamilton and I initially looked only at them, but then widened the search. I found a couple of really nice Waltham's that were more than I wanted to pay, at least at this point. That's when I found the Benrus. I just like the look of it, and it may go for cheap, so the value aspect isn't as significant. I was willing to pay a bit more for the Hamilton because it had been overhauled by a dude who exclusively restores old Hamiltons; hamiltonchronicles.com. That Benrus would be for fun. As I previously indicated, I probably won't be getting anything for a while and this is more on an exercise in reconnaissance. I do appreciate the advice, though.