About JWBenson

JWBENSON (Benson) was the most successful watch manufacturer in London in the late 19th century, and can be said to be one of Britain's leading watch brands.
While many British watch manufacturers operated in small workshops, by the end of the 19th century, large-scale factories were producing a wide range of watches, from mid-range to high-end.

Not only as a watch manufacturer, but also as a high-end jeweler, we have strong sales and brand power, and have been awarded Royal Warrants by Queen Victoria and other royal families.

It is a very popular brand, with many of its watches featuring British-style simple, sturdy and sturdy designs, and is known to have been worn by celebrities in the political and business circles such as Jiro Shirasu and Shigeru Yoshida.

the beginning

A workshop called "Samuel Suckley & James William Benson" was founded in 1847 by brothers James William Benson and Samuel Suckley Benson, who were watchmakers and goldsmiths in London. It is considered a start.
The Benson family was originally a family of watchmakers that had been around for generations since 1749.

From the beginning of our business, we operated as an importer and retailer (jeweler), handling not only watches and jewelry manufactured in-house, but also imported items.
The brothers' partnership was dissolved in 1855, with James continuing the business as "JWBenson".

The business expanded steadily, including participating in the second London Exhibition in 1862, but James William Benson died in 1878 at the age of 52, and the company was passed on to his sons.

royal purveyor

The sons who took over the company were awarded a Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria in 1879.
In addition, we have received warrants from several other royal families, including the Prince of Wales, the Danish royal family, and the Russian emperor, strengthening our name recognition and brand power.
Some Benson movements from around this time have engravings indicating these.

However, towards the end of the 19th century, British watches were forced into competition with Swiss and American watches, and the number of watches produced in-house gradually decreased, and it seems that the company began to focus on manufacturing and selling jewelry.

After World War I

The watch industry is also a military industry, and Benson's watch factory lost most of its operations during the German air raids on London during World War I in 1917, and was unable to continue manufacturing movements in-house after that. Ta.

However, as a luxury jeweler, they purchase machinery from Swiss manufacturers such as Longines, Vertex (review), Cima, and Universal to manufacture and sell their own branded watches.
Even in the age of wristwatches, they continued to sell watches made on an OEM basis by Swiss manufacturers and the same British company Smith.

After that, JWBenson continued until 1973, when it was absorbed by GARRARD, another British luxury jeweler.

summary

When it comes to watches, we often think of Switzerland, but until the first half of the 19th century, Britain was the world leader.
There were many watch manufacturers, and it is said that they manufactured more than half of the watches in the world.
Benson is a watch manufacturer that continued to make British watches until the end, even after the Industrial Revolution, when British watches were overwhelmed by mass production in Switzerland and the United States.