# Benrus WWII Military Watch reissue



## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

hi to all...
i like so much military and russian watch...
now for so much time i had tryed to buy a hamilton or benrus at a good price and in a good condition...
but always the price goes up and up..
At the end i have thinked that i will not want to wear that kind of time piece because of the real value of the watch...
and because i will be scared in order to scratch or damage it....
Ok ok now at the end i have decided to buy thw WWII Benrus reissued watch...
What do you think about it?










For me it is beautiful....
Hack features..
Superluminova index and hands..
very vintage piece that i can wear without the scare of damage...

i hope i made a good choice...


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## wemedge (Jun 10, 2006)

Nice watch, but I believe it is 60s or 70s, not WWII.

wemedge


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

the seller said to me that is:

beautiful watch , this is fantastic, brand new in box. 
all steel waterproof case, 17 jewel swiss movement , hack feature, . 
this is the reissue of the classic watch issued to the u.s military 
during the ww.2 korea and vietnam wars. it wa s a limited edition and 
is no longer in production. this could be your only chance to own one 
in this condition. has been kept as an investment piece.

but i don't know.......
i will see when the watch will be here.....:-!


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## Crusader (Apr 30, 2005)

wemedge said:


> Nice watch, but I believe it is 60s or 70s, not WWII.
> 
> wemedge


It is marketed as a WWII vintage watch, but the caseback engravings and style make it a Mil-W-46374 homage.

The movement is a hacking 17-jewel handwound, likely an ETA 2750.

It is a bit smaller than a GG-W-113, and polished.


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## WNUT (Oct 20, 2006)

Whatever it is ecalzo, it looks great! I really like those types of watches.
Enjoy it, friend! :-! 
Dave


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## Strela (Apr 30, 2005)

*Keep in mind Benrus was one of the few US watch makers not*

to supply watches to troops durring WWII. They continued production of thier civilian watches.

So the WWII tie in is not completely accurate.


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

*Re: Keep in mind Benrus was one of the few US watch makers not*



Strela said:


> to supply watches to troops durring WWII. They continued production of thier civilian watches.
> 
> So the WWII tie in is not completely accurate.


this means that is not affordable watch?:think:
i thought if this is a reissud one maybe it can be accurate..
not the real watch of WWII i know but just a piece of time with some military features...
prior the hacking features...
for me have some scent..
you know "moderator Strela" i like russian military and military watch...
this one i think is the less expensive military-like watch with the best value/price ratio on the market..
in the past i owned an MWC military watch that is less expensive but not as good as the benrus is...
Hamilton,CWC,GWC,Glycine, are so beautiful i know very well........but it's too expensive for me...:-(
always i plan to buy one but the price at the end goes up and pass the 250$...
i'm speaking of watch in NOs condition or similar...
i hope i've done a good choice...;-)
thanks for all the info and opinion.....


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## lysanderxiii (Oct 4, 2006)

Crusader said:


> It is marketed as a WWII vintage watch, but the caseback engravings and style make it a Mil-W-46374 homage.
> 
> The movement is a hacking 17-jewel handwound, likely an ETA 2750.
> 
> It is a bit smaller than a GG-W-113, and polished.


They are nice little watches, about the size and shape of the Hamilton 46734B or later GG-W-113.

The movement, however, looks like a Chinese carbon copy of a 2801-2. (At least on the one that I have seen.)


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## Crusader (Apr 30, 2005)

lysanderxiii said:


> The movement, however, looks like a Chinese carbon copy of a 2801-2. (At least on the one that I have seen.)


My watch dates from the first half of the 1990s ... not sure that they all have the same movement.

Mine is definitely one notch smaller than the GG-W-113, too.


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

thanks for all your answer...
the mouvement for me is.. what the seller and my web search have foun:

17 jewel swiss movement , hack feature, . this is the reissue of the classic watch issued to the u.s military during the ww.2 korea and vietnam wars

anyone have the same watch to post a comment on the funtion ad how it runs?
;-)

i hope is a swiss mouvement and not a chinese mouvement..
because i bought it as swiss one...
:think:


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## Crusader (Apr 30, 2005)

ecalzo said:


> anyone have the same watch to post a comment on the funtion ad how it runs?


I have the watch and yes, it has a hacking function. Accuracy is reasonable (somewhere under 20 seconds per day, never bothered to measure it).

But mostly I wear my GG-W-113s.


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

excuse me and my ignorance...
but....
why you mostly wear GG-W-113s and not the Benrus?
because of the accuracy or maybe because you like more the Hamilton?
Isn't more valuable the GG-W-113s than the Benrus?
isn't scary to wear a timepiece like that all the day...?
:think:

and...
anyone knows the timeline or homepage of the Benrus Watch Company?
thanks


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## Ricky (Apr 5, 2006)

Is this the same Benrus that the Smithsonian Institute has reissued as a commemorative military watch for the 50th anniversary of D-Day? According to their add it has a Swiss movement, but doesn't specify which one. It goes for $129.

Ricky


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## Strela (Apr 30, 2005)

*Here is the watch Ricky mentions*

http://www.smithsonianstore.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=12098&search=watch


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## zippofan (Feb 11, 2006)

A friend of mine just bought one not too long ago and brought it over to show me. I thought it was a nice watch, though definitely too small for me. I then traded him my MWC W-10 for a limited edition numbered Zippo of the Dresden Cathedral that he purchased when he was last in Germany.

For him, the Benrus was the first step to being a WIS :-!

Cheers,
Griff


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## Crusader (Apr 30, 2005)

ecalzo said:


> excuse me and my ignorance...
> but....
> why you mostly wear GG-W-113s and not the Benrus?
> because of the accuracy or maybe because you like more the Hamilton?
> ...


I have got four Hamiltoin GG-W-113s. ;-)

They cost barely more than the Benrus re-edition, and they are a tad larger than the Benrus, also they have suitable matte cases.

Of course, they are issued watches.

What really puts me off the Benrus is the pseudo-1944-marketing. As Strela has said, Benrus wasn't even part of the US war effort in WWII (though they produced notable military watches later on).


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

ok thanks..


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## JMS (Oct 1, 2006)

Crusader said:


> I have got four Hamiltoin GG-W-113s. ;-)
> 
> What really puts me off the Benrus is the pseudo-1944-marketing. As Strela has said, Benrus wasn't even part of the US war effort in WWII (though they produced notable military watches later on).


Don't believe the books Benrus did have military pieces for WW2 in the later years, this is in my collection, complete with inner magnetic/dust cover, blued hands and original lume


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## Strela (Apr 30, 2005)

*What makes that an issued watch?*

got a pic of the back showing any issue marks?


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

zippofan said:


> A friend of mine just bought one not too long ago and brought it over to show me. I thought it was a nice watch, though definitely too small for me. I then traded him my MWC W-10 for a limited edition numbered Zippo of the Dresden Cathedral that he purchased when he was last in Germany.
> 
> For him, the Benrus was the first step to being a WIS :-!
> 
> ...


for me too......:-d
the first one bought for _104euro_
i'm plannig of buying the HMT in NOS condition as my second WIS watch...
i told to you about it ,my friends, in my other post...


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## lysanderxiii (Oct 4, 2006)

JMS said:


> Don't believe the books Benrus did have military pieces for WW2 in the later years, this is in my collection, complete with inner magnetic/dust cover, blued hands and original lume


I have one of those too. Strictly speaking, they are not military watches, in that, they were not purchased by the US government. They use a Swiss movement.


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

ok guys i don't want you litigate here...
be quite...
i just like this watch because it is military oriented watch and a commemorative one.......
i've just got the gagarin reissue replica from poljot...
for me is very beautiful and i am not able to catch a good hamilton in NOS condition from my place...
it is hard to find one so good at affordable price...
i put my interest on this kind of benrus because it is new, it has the luminous hands and number....
so i've bought...:-d

now i would like to buy one really issued...
the HMT..
i hope i'd make a good choice..


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

another question guys..
the gg-w-113 does have fixed or removable PINS-SPRING BARS?:think:
from some photos it seems to be romovable...
and in others i have seen it seems fixed?
can you tell me if maybe there is some different kind of cases 
with different kind of pins spring bars?
Thanks


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## Crusader (Apr 30, 2005)

My GG-W-113 appears to have shoulderless springbars. Haven't removed them, though, yet.


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## lysanderxiii (Oct 4, 2006)

I think the answer is: "It depends."

Some look like shoulderless spring bars. Some have fixed steel pins.


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

it's what i am thinking....:think:
but unfortunately i have not some gg-w-13 to check..:-d


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## heb (Feb 24, 2006)

wemedge said:


> Nice watch, but I believe it is 60s or 70s, not WWII.
> 
> wemedge


Hello,

I purchased one a few years back and like it very much. It has a more "military authenic" dial, than say the Hamilton equivalent.

Although I haven't worn mine in awhile, it lost 3 seconds a day when I did, so not bad--w/i chronometer specs.

It is very small--about 33mm diameter--but that was the vogue size back then. The canvas strap is comfortable too.

I think I've seen them being sold for about $129; overall, a nice quality timepiece.

Good luck with your selection,

heb


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## JohnF (Feb 11, 2006)

Hi -

Well, not entirely accurate: Benrus did make fuzes and other precision military equipment, but as their watch movements came from Switzerland, they decided to let Hamilton, Elgin et al make the military watches (Gruen did the same thing: their wartime work was limited to gauges and the like, their watch business was purely civilian, like Benrus). Had to do with what the Axis powers would allow Switzerland to ship to the US and what it wasn't allowed to...

JohnF


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## JMS (Oct 1, 2006)

Used to be able to find a picture of the Benrus factory the pic with a rocket outside the plant but you think I can find it now, somewhere on the net it is


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## JMS (Oct 1, 2006)

I have a few of the Vietnam pieces stashed somewhere dating over a couple of the years, this is probably one of the better examples.


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## ecalzo (Oct 18, 2006)

:---(

bhuuu...
i'm so unhappy.......
due to problems with shipment from USA to ITaly i had to cancel my buy at the seller...
He said to me that for most secure parcel i have to pay extra 28$..
and that he can't ship as a gift...
in thi way in italy i have to pay about 20$ for extra stupid italian tax....
but this not insure me to have my watch at 100% because sometimes...
many times...:-(
the parcel or box from USA does not arrive at destination......
i don't know if someone take the shipment apart or some kind like this...
so i prefer to cancel my bought and not pay 48$ more for a shipmet that cannot insure me to have my watch...
o|


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## aharvey (Aug 4, 2020)

*a bit late on the discussion, hi ! I was wondering if you're referring to the Benrus 50th anniversary reissue of 1994? What is the lume made of ? Luminova or tritium? Thanks !*


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## parkergeo (May 14, 2019)

With a 1994 sales date, that's just at the beginning of the era of high-performance non-radioactive lume, and I'm not sure if the manufacturers making these would have had access or would have chosen to go that route. The watches are 25 years old now, and I can tell you that the lume is pretty weak. Actually, there were different versions of this watch, with a similar base dial and ETA 2801-2 movement, but with different lume and casebook notation schemes. I have two (pictured below) and one has hour indices with heavy luming, a glowing second hand and aged hour/minute hand lume with that crystalline-crusty look which closely matches a tritium'ed GG-W-113. The other has thinner, more paint-looking hour pips, nothing on the second hand and hour/minute hand lume that appears more modern. So it is possible, just as was the case with mid-90's Speedmasters, that some had tritium and others didn't. There is no H3 or T-Swiss-T marking on the dial, but I haven't decased the movement to rule out a "T" over the 12, which is the way the 60's Benrus tritium dials were marked.


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## parkergeo (May 14, 2019)

Here are the casebooks and a movement shot. These have a nice hacking ETA movement.


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## aharvey (Aug 4, 2020)

Amazing information, thanks a lot ! Turns out i went with the discontinued 33mm version of the Hamilton Khaki field, the proportions are very similar to these Benrus watches. Hard to find, but worth it !


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