This Legendary 1940s Pilot’s Watch Is Back and Ready to Soar Again

The Benrus Sky Chief used to be among the world’s most popular chronographs, but don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of it. It flew the friendly skies in the golden era of commercial air travel and now, thanks to a faithfully recreated new edition, it’s ready to make its final descent onto your wrist. The story of its resurrection reveals the story of one of America’s greatest forgotten watch brands.

Founded in New York City in 1921, Benrus was one of the top three watch brands in the country during the mid-20th century, worn by John F. Kennedy, Steve McQueen, and Babe Ruth, before—like so many other storied brands—falling victim to the quartz crisis of the 1970s. After languishing for a few decades, Benrus returned in 2020, and its lineup of vintage-inspired tool watches based on the brand’s greatest hits of yesteryear has since grown slowly but steadily. The latest among them, the Benrus Sky Chief, might be their most covetable release yet.

Benrus was founded by brothers Oscar, Ralph, and Benjamin Lazrus (the company name is a contraction of the latter) with headquarters in NYC and production facilities in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the heart of Swiss watchmaking country. Among its first big hits was the 1929 Benrus Airman, a rugged rectangular watch with a highly legible dial that was adopted by several airlines in the earliest days of commercial flight. More pioneering flight watches followed, including, in 1940, the Benrus Sky Chief chronograph. Designed for airline pilots, the Sky Chief’s domed crystal and slim bezel made it easy to read, while aeronautical graduation on its minute totalizer assisted with air navigation and cruise calculations. Benrus had many other big moments in the mid-20th century, including producing field watches for the US military and (perhaps most famously) being worn by Steve McQueen in Bullitt, before closing shop in the 1970s.

The 2026 Sky Chief, which retails for $3,950, is a classic 1940s pilot’s chronograph, with the big Arabic numerals, syringe hands, and snailed counters the genre demands. Along with the vintage Sky Chief script on the dial, however, its most notable feature is a vintage-correct 36mm stainless steel case housing a Swiss-made ETA 2894 automatic chronograph movement. With most modern chronographs measuring at least 40mm across, and some measuring much more, the new Sky Chief joins an exclusive club (the only other 36mm automatic chronograph, as far as we can tell, is the Blancpain Air Command—a different beast altogether). As such a faithful homage to the original Sky Chief, it’s one of many indications that, after being rescued from obscurity, Benrus is on track to recapture a piece of its former glory.