Benrus Wristalarm - Tropical Dial - Dual Crown - Kreisler Mesh Bracelet - Mid 1950s

In the 1950s, the mechanical wrist alarm was one of the most fiercely contested complications in watchmaking. Jaeger-LeCoultre had introduced its Memovox in 1950, Vulcain was riding the success of the Cricket, and American brands were scrambling to answer. These vintage alarms all chirp like a cricket. Benrus, the New York-based watch company that had spent the war years manufacturing timing fuses for military munitions, turned its precision engineering back toward the wrist and released the Wristalarm, a direct challenge to the Swiss alarm houses with an identity that was entirely its own.

This example has developed one of the most striking tropical dials you are likely to encounter on a watch from this era. Tropical dials are among the most sought-after and valuable characteristics a vintage watch can have, the result of decades of slow chemical change to the original lacquer and pigment that cannot be reproduced or rushed. This one has gone a deep, burnt copper that shifts between metallic rouge and warm gold depending on the angle of light, reading almost dark chocolate in shadow and glowing amber near a window. The applied triangular and elongated arrow indices remain intact across the field, and the small red-tipped alarm indicator hand at twelve adds a sharp accent against the aged surface. It is a dial that collectors photograph from ten different angles because no single shot captures it.

The Wristalarm operates via original signed Benrus crowns on the right side of the case, a configuration that shares its functional logic with the celebrated Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox. The upper crown at two o'clock is dedicated entirely to the alarm: wound clockwise to tension the alarm spring, then pulled out to set the alarm hand to the desired time. The lower crown at four o'clock handles the movement independently, winding and setting the time without disturbing the alarm. This dual-crown separation means the alarm stays armed while you set the time, an elegant solution that the Swiss houses charged considerably more to deliver.

The movement inside is the A. Schild Caliber AS 1475, a 17-jewel manual-wind twin-barrel alarm caliber that powered alarm watches from Tissot, Tudor, Wakmann, Enicar, and others during this era. It is robust, well-regarded, and thoroughly proven. The movement is stamped Benrus Watch Co. Inc., Model DS 15, Seventeen Jewels, Swiss. The caseback is stamped 10 K.R.G.P. Top, Stainless Steel Back, Waterproof, Dustproof, Shock Absorbing, with serial number 574879.

The Kreisler mesh bracelet deserves its own mention. Jacques Kreisler Manufacturing Company, founded in New York in 1914, was one of America's premier watch bracelet makers through the mid-20th century, supplying the best department stores and watch brands in the country with bracelets that were considered as important as the watches they carried. Kreisler ceased operations in 1979, and their bracelets, particularly the wide woven mesh examples, are now genuinely collectible in their own right and actively sought by vintage watch enthusiasts who know what they are looking at. Finding one intact, on its original watch, in a matching gold-filled tone, is the kind of detail that separates a complete set piece from a parts watch. The clasp is stamped Kreisler / 1/20 10K G.F. / U.S.A., confirming American manufacture in 1/20 10-karat gold fill.

Benrus was founded by Benjamin Lazrus in New York, the company name a portmanteau of his own. By the 1920s they had transitioned from watch repair into case manufacturing and Swiss movement assembly, building a distinctly American identity around Swiss precision. During the Second World War the company halted consumer watchmaking entirely to produce timing mechanisms for munitions. The postwar Wristalarm was part of a confident return to civilian production, and in the early 1950s Benrus was ambitious enough to attempt a hostile takeover of Hamilton Watch Company, a bid that failed but spoke to the scale of their aspirations.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

I am happy to service any unserviced watch listed on the site — please inquire about service charges when purchasing.

All sales final.