Benrus
Benjamin Lazrus coined the term " Benrus by taking his name combining to make it earier to remember in the early 1920's. By the end of the 1920's the company has transformed from a watch repair shop to a case manufacturer. After manufacturing the cases the company would assemble the timepieces using swiss movements. When World War II hit Benrus adapted their manufacture to timing systems and continued with the war effort until the end of the war when they converted back to timepiece manufacture producing with it a chronograph and wrist alarm piece. By the early 1950s Benrus was purchasing stock in Hamilton in an attempt to take over the company and became a landmark case in the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Manual. Benrus lost the case. By the mid 1960s they introduced self-winding watches and started to craft many of these self winding pieces with the idea of implementing them into cars and trucks. By the end of the 1960's the company was sold to Victor Kiam and competition closed in on Benrus's manufacturing advantages particularly timepieces manufactured overseas (Japan). The company attempted to switch gears again by manufacturing military timepieces and finally it attempted to manufacture costume jewelry before filing for bankruptcy in 1977 before reorganizing and joining with Wells and Roka Watch Company. This was short lasted and bankruptcy found Benrus again. The Benrus brand was acquired from the Wells-Benrus company by Clinton Watch Company of Chicago, which renamed its business Benrus Watch Company. The company then brought distribution of the timepieces to major retailers increasing sales dramatically before being sold to Gruen Watch Co. Finally MZ Berger purchased them.
