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Benrus was founded in New York City in 1921 by Benjamin Lazrus, a Romanian-American immigrant, along with his brothers Oscar and Ralph. The name is a portmanteau of "Ben" (Benjamin) and "Rus" (Lazrus). The company started by importing Swiss movements and assembling watches at a Manhattan headquarters, moving to the New York Hippodrome building in 1923.
During World War II, Benrus shifted production to timing systems for munitions, then built a strong reputation through military contracts in the postwar years — its watches were worn by U.S. servicemen from WWII through Vietnam. The 1940 Sky Chief chronograph, marketed as the "Official Watch of Famous Airlines," became one of its signature pieces. The company's golden age ran through the 1950s–60s, with models like the Dial-O-Rama (1957), Sea Lord, and Wrist Alarm, plus celebrity ties to Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and Steve McQueen.
After Benjamin Lazrus died in 1947, his brother Oscar took over and eventually sold the company to entrepreneur Victor Kiam in 1967. The rise of Japanese quartz watches hit Benrus hard, leading to bankruptcy in 1977 and again in 1981, after which the brand passed through several owners — Hampden Watch Company, then M.Z. Berger (which also held Elgin, Waltham, and Gruen). In 2014, Giovanni Feroce acquired the licenses to relaunch it as a lifestyle brand, but lost control in 2017 over payment defaults.
Today the brand is owned by Benrus Holdings, LLC (Rhode Island), which produces Swiss automatic watches with sapphire crystals and Super-LumiNova lume, marketed under the tagline "for the brave since 1921." The current site leans heavily on that military/aviation heritage — referencing the Sky-Chief, the 1960s #3061 and DTU-2A/P military-spec models, and the 1972 Type I.