The $20 Benrus: A Bargain Bin Watch Worth Fixing?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- In this video, I take on a $20 Benrus watch I picked up from the bargain bin on eBay, diving into a repair project that was anything but straightforward. This vintage watch arrived with significant corrosion, major timekeeping issues, and signs of overall wear and tear. My challenge was to see if I could address these problems and bring this watch back to life as a reliable daily wear.
Creating these videos requires a significant amount of time and effort, and I truly appreciate every bit of support I receive. If you enjoy the content and want to help me keep producing more, please consider visiting my Patreon page. Your support, no matter the size, makes a big difference and enables me to continue sharing my passion with you. Thank you so much for your generosity and consideration!
/ weekendwatchrepair
Enjoy the video!
I'm now on Instagram as well:
/ weekend_watch_repair
Full Tools & Parts Breakdown (Amazon links are affiliate links):
docs.google.co...
For what it’s worth I found your channel and absolutely LOVE the cheep watches. It’s relatable and the ones I can afford and would like to start the hobby with so these are SO helpful!!!
Thank you very much. Those are the watches that fit my budget as well. They’re great to learn on, and make excellent wearable pieces when completed. I’m glad you found the channel and are enjoying it.
Beautiful watch. My parents bought me a Benrus in '68 or '69. I have worn it most of my life, and I am wearing it as I watch this video. Congratulations on 1 million views.
Well that's a great advert for benrus watches.
@@darrenfry4695 Just a fact. Wearing it now, too. 😁
That’s awesome! Wish I had a watch with a story like that. 👍
I wish I can see the watch
That's fantastic! I've read and researched more about the brand and I'm really liking some of their older stuff from the 60's and 70's. Good value for money.
There is a thing about radio DJs/presenters, what makes the best ones is when you feel they are just talking to you, it feels personal. That's what I love about this channel, It feels kind of personal. Plus I love watches. Lol. Keep waffling on. Love it!
Haha, thanks. I always wonder if my rambling is annoying to others! As you can tell, I don't rehearse or plan anything in advance for the voice work. I just plug in a microphone and hit record.
Great job on the Benrus. Got one myself that I got off eBay, came with case and box. As a suggestion for special watch for a 15K, I think any vintage watch from Seiko, Citizen or Bulova would be cool.
Im only 3 minutes in, and that's going to be a sweet time pice. Thanks for taking us along 👍.
Completely agree. It's a really nice dial with a beautiful font. The flat dial ground makes the shiny stuff really pop.
I get a lot of satisfaction taking an older "common" watch and getting it working again, just like you did on this Benrus. That would be my suggestion for your potential give-away...something common and well used that now has new life.
I'll never say no to a Seiko Chrono ... but I'm holding out for Citizen 8110a
:)
That's a handsome watch! Love the stylised numbers.
Great suggestion. I've never worked on a single Citizen before. Talk about jumping into the deep end!
Lovely work in an era when everything that doesn't function gets thrown out.
This type of videos I like best. I will never own or work on a rolex or any high-end watch.
I do like high-end watches, but my budget is limited.
Thank you for this video.
Cheers ✌️
Oh, wow! That came up _absolutely beautifully_ 😍
That Benrus is a beautiful mid century. It would be an amazing 15k gift. If you find an A11 that is one of my grail watches because my Grandfather likely wore one in WW2.
Great suggestion. I worked on one a few years ago, before starting the UA-cam channel. The watch had stayed in the family of the soldier that it was issued to. It was a pleasure to work on that watch and see it returned to the family.
Happy to hear about the million views of one video, and upcoming 15K subscriber mark. In this episode, I wonder what that severe corrosion could be caused by. I thought at first it was just a mysterious surface film, but could see the pitting after parts cleaning. As to popularity of some videos over others -- I suspect part of the reason is nostalgia. For example, I was given a Benrus pocket watch by my father around 1960 (no longer have it) and so Benrus always kind of rings a bell for me. Thanks for another enjoyable service/repair experience!
Excellent work as usual. And I watch your vids because of the way you talk. It feels like listening to a friend while having a beer if that makes sense
I have a Seiko automatic as a daily wear love a good Seiko.
Congratulations, Adam, on the views and subscribers. You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work. Thank you
Another great video, love the commentary. Also like the idea of having the winner recieve a service on their own watch as opposed to a giveaway.
Great idea!
As a newcomer to the watch enthusiast community, I've thoroughly enjoyed your videos. I also recently acquired a Benrus watch for $21. I still need to buy some additional tools, but I thought it would be an excellent watch to practice on, given the low cost. I'm hopeful that I can restore it. I've subscribed to your channel and wish you continued success!
Thank you very much.
I think you should do a vintage Citizen Chrono... It could be a new challenge for you, it's not super expensive to source (especially from Japan using Buyee for example), and a good way to celebrate the 15k sub (and giveaway).
Cheers
As a new hobbyist watchmaker ...I certainly enjoy your videos. I think as a hobbyist, tools are crazy expensive. perhaps give away some watchmaking tools. That would help beginners me included. Best Wishes !!!
I love the look of the hands on that, it’s the same style as a watch I have that stopped working and needs fixed
I think this watch would be an awesome 15k giveaway. It's gorgeous and it represents the whole idea of ameture matchmaking. You took a $20 risk and returned it to a gorgeous piece that would be an absolute joy to wear. Congratulations on your million view milestone and thanks for all the entertaining videos.
Absolutely gorgeous watch. Shocked how well it runs after you finished with it. Found this video looking up info for an inherited Belforte watch I have.
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
That came out great! For your celebratory watch, seems like I never see a Citizen being worked on.
Fantastic results on a real cool (and affordable) Benrus! Congrats on the channel growth - you deserve it!😁👏🏼
Thanks Mike. I really appreciate it.
New to the channel! Just wanted to say I have been be watching the videos non stop. I started with wristwatch revival and now my obsession with Seiko has led me here. One day I’ll be able to tackle a watch with multiple complications. Thanks for the great videos!!
Thanks so much.
On a vintage watch, I love the contrast of a patinaed case and dial with a fresh crystal. I feel it shows care for the watch but preserves the true vintage aesthetic. Great job on this piece! What a way to elevate a cheap ebay find to something truly stunning.
You have achieved impressive results again, it is always a pleasure to watch you at work, and your comments are also very educational. I also have a Benrus with slightly different numbers and also a different caliber. Keep it up and much success with everything you are going to do. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Thank you very much.
That watch is awesome I would have loved to see it in the sunshine...great vid again ..
I think any wearable watch you'd be willing to service then give away would be awesome. What a story that would make: "Hey kids, lemme tell you about the time I won a watch a from a famous watchmaker UA-camr." Wow.
I just started watching your videos absolutely love don't know nothing about name brands but I love the mechanics. And I like how you focus in with your camera. It is awesome. Thank you
Thanks. I’m glad you’re enjoying the videos.
Congratulations on the milestone! Great build! Keep at it!
Really nice video, I enjoyed it very must and that watch cleaned up SOOOO nicely ! Subscribed - you earned it
Awesome, thank you!
Coolest ultrasonic cleaner ever!
Haha!
Excellent that you hone your skills on the mainspring. Thank you for the video !
Love your talking, and your skill. Just stay real to who you are. It’s great!
Congrats on 1M views and thanks for the entertaining content 😊 love the ultrasonic sound 🎶
I would love to see a WWII A10 or something of that sort cause even as those watches are simple, they have a really cool vibe to them with the hack and the little extra features.
Congrats on the views and subscribers. This is one of my favorite channels on UA-cam, I always look forward to your videos. This watch turned out fantastically.
Really nice looking watch. The texture on the dial is a natural phenomenon with mat paint. They use a talc in the paint which is difficult to apply in an even layer. The talc is gonna lay the way it's gonna lay. I painted custom paint on cars for a living and matt finishes were a challenge, especially black. The uneven texture adds to its charm.
As far as give a way watch,van Seiko Actus 5 would be cool and reasonable or a military watch.
Well done with views ! The way you talk and explain is a good reason of o it incl. the video quality. Your sense of humour is perfect.
That's a beautiful watch. Love the font of those indices.
Nice job, fantastic work. I've got one very similar. Took it to a repair shop and received an estimate of $550 US to get it running.
Beautiful outcome on that Benrus! A little Bauhaus style, precious.
Great channel. I think an old Seiko 5 would be awesome, nothing fancy. A basic Seiko 5. Just watching you service it and get it running well would be really nice as a prize.
Great video as always and love the commentary. as for your giveaway, maybe you could give a full service and or restoration to the winner, I have a 72 pogue that I'd love fully restored.
Beautiful watch and really nice work
That is actually a handsome dial. The numbers are a very cool deco-style
Suede dial! 😉😂. Great job Adam, it looks fabulous 👍. Any giveaway is a generous gesture.
Where can I get that fancy tool you used to apply the new crystal. I can't find it anywhere.
It's actually an old tool. I got it on eBay.
Turned out beautifully! I love those Vietnam era Benrus and Gruen watches.
I think that is a great looking watch, well deserved on the million views!You do a great job all round Adam, that’s why we love to watch, in my opinion. As for giveaway, anything you have serviced & restored would be fantastic 😃Surprise us! 👍🏻 Wish I could buy a watch in 🇦🇺 like that for $20 😩
LOL @ the ultrasonic Adam!! Thanks for the coffee-out-the-nose moment 😂
Pogue rules, Adam! Always nice to watch your videos. Keep pushing. Greetings from Argentina. 👋
I would like to see a Seiko 6139 movement serviced (like a Pogue: 6139-6005). Great channel.
Thank you. If you browse through the channel's previous uploads, you’ll find several service videos on the 6138 and 6139 movements.
Absolutely gorgeous. You are just as talented, skilled and modest as Marshall. Great work!
Very kind of you to say. Thank you.
Love Benrus! I have 3… oh, and you’re hardly a hack! :) 15k subscriber giveaway? A Seiko diver would be cool. Like a 7002 movement?
Looking for an interesting giveaway watch that won't break the bank. How about an old citizen homer railway watch. I personally think a different movement type would be interesting for 15k subs
@weekendwatchrepair I love your videos keep it up and congratulations on 1 million views
Adam here's a suggestion for 15k. Just like you did with this watch how about a subscriber can purchase a watch for their self off eBay in need of some restoration work. Send it to you & hopefully you are able to do the work required. Then send the watch back to the lucky subscriber. Perhaps a maximum of £100 can be spent on the purchase & evidence it was purchased of eBay. Oh & obviously they are spending their own money purchasing the watch !!!
Noted!
I'd like to see you rehab a good old Timex. Something classic. Maybe a Marlin or something classic from the 60s or 70s. Congratulations!
Halimaton dive watch would be nice ,love your shows it’s nice to see easy watches because for us newbies it’s easer to absorb the info
Good job Adam. From one weekend watch maker to another I feel your readings on the timerapher looks good I don't feel the amplitude to be too low but then again I'm not sure what a normal amplitude is for this movement many of these older movement don't have very high amplitude in fact having a higher amplitude might cause problems like knocking etc which I'm sure you know. All in all very nice job.
If your still soliciting suggestions for a giveaway for your next milestone subscription number, honestly, anything is cool. A vintage watch that's been restored and serviced, especially with the transparency afforded by your videography of the process is a pretty great gift.
That being said, a Seiko Chrono of the variety you seem to live so much would really itch me where it scratches.😁 A WWII era A-11 type is always a delight as well.
I would like a vintage Enicar on the bench 😊
What a transformation! It looks awesome 👍👍👍
Hello Adam , as you I'm a weekend watch repair too, I think a good watch as this Benrus will be ok but is only one , so you can offer perhaps 10 tee shirts with your logo ,perhaps two tweezers and so on and you can go on, or a mug , one is I think too little for all your viewers, perhaps ten or twenty presents according to the budget! Nice video !
I quite like the idea others have proposed where you service a subscribers watch (some boundaries necessary, to avoid someone sending a rusted solid timepiece with no chance of being repaired for example)
One million views? They're certainly deserved! Congratulations! ❤
What about a classical vintage sub second dress watch made in the states?
That would be something out of the ordinary. Especially if with a bit of patina... 😉
Oh, and maan, did that Benrus just turn out gorgeous! ❤
nice pallet fork jiggling! For 15k I would give away 2 of the cheapest Seikos to two separate people... that way my odds are as good as they were the last time. I feel like your ability with the Seikos is what brought me to your channel, that and the pallet fork jiggling.
That watch is gorgeous! 🤩
I think so too.
I think Benrus watches are quite underrated and underappreciated. Many of them, like yours, have gorgeous dials. I have a couple myself.
That is a beautiful watch! Well done.
Always a great job, Adam. For the 15K.... how about two watches and you give someone (Me!) a private lesson. Thanks, for doing this!
I’d love to see you try and work on a Hamilton Electric. They are an amazing and historic movement. Plus there’s only a handful of watchsmiths who work on them so it could be a unique challenge for you.
Great video.. and a beautiful watch.. I have my Dad’s Benrus.. nice work! Frank in Colorado
Nice work. I’m finishing up a Benrus DR 25/ETA 2472 that had heavy rust in the setting mechanism. It belonged to a coworker’s grandfather. Benrus made good watches back then.
Excellent job with the video, as always. Amazing how inexpensively one can pick up an all-steel watch with a decent ETA caliber inside. Similar pieces I worked on got me into watchmaking myself, as I’m sure it was for many other people.
As for a suggestion, how about a Soviet watch? Watchmaking from that part of the world is almost entirely ignored for no good reason. Lots to chose from from marques such as Poljot, Slava, and Raketa. Personally would go for the Chaika 3050-KR, the so-called “Blue Fridge”, simply because it’s architecture is very similar to the original Beta 21 of the Swiss CEH consortium. A very important milestone for horology in general for a channel milestone!
Hi Adam, your channel is great. It's also nice you are thanking your viewers. An idea for you might be a vintage mechanical military watch for your 15K milestone.
My choice would have to be a citizen or seiko. Have watched your channel i enjoy your banter and tutoring , keep it up i look forward to your future videos. 😀
Give away this Benrus! It looks fantastic
This was pleasant to watch all the way through. Sincerely awesome
Thank you very much.
Good Day; a vintage Chrono like a Vulcan I think that’s what it’s called. As a giveaway. Congrats on your one millionth milestone 👍
You sound just like Marshall from Wristwatch revival! Love it! 😊
maybe some would be really interested in a inexpensive BUT decent quality starter tool set. Though I also love Seiko's. Just did a slow parts build up and got a Capt Willard running, testing it this weekend!
Great work on a watch that turned out really nice: 👍👌👏!
Thank you very much.
Benrus is a great brand , it produced nice watches with inside beautiful movements
It would be interesting to watch you repair an NH 35 movement. Cheap, but well made, except that the factory apparently isn't too careful about proper lubrication or time adjustment. Before and after regulation data would be fun to see. There are large numbers of watch brands that use them.
That would be a good idea for a video. I’ve done that personally with watches. It’s the luck of the draw with regards to those movements, some of them I’ve seen brand new were done very well, and some not so much. None of them were regulated as well as they could’ve been. I’ve been able to achieve very good numbers by servicing and re-regulating some of those new movements in the past. That could be an interesting video though. Thank you for the suggestion.
Cool watch, nice overhaul. :) I vote for a chronograph - any chronograph.
Great video as always. Something with a Venus movement would be cool.
I love that watch!
Looks great
Very good looks - beautiful - lot’s of style
Everyone loves an old pocket watch, no matter what the value it would be a great giveaway
Just discovered your channel from the 7002 diver you restored . I think Seiko Hi-beat would be cool . Can't recall seeing one being serviced . Or maybe a vintage Citizen
I have watch most of your videos and really enjoy this channel. Congratulations on the 1M views🎉. For 15k subscriber celebration, why not look into restoring an old Roamer for a give away. They are not expensive and mostly come with the in house MST movements. I do not recall that you have done Roamer on this channel yet.
The end result is totally cool. I like the dial. Up close it looks kind of splotchy, but in real light it's amazing. Good strap choice as well.
Was the original crystal too far gone for polywatch? The new one looks fantastic, just wondering why you chose to spend the money.
Congrats on 1M views, this Benrus would be a great give away or a Seiko Kakume, maybe a grand Seiko.
How about a Seiko bellmatic alarm?
Hello Adam
How about a Tissot Seastar or if you find some of the Chrono‘s are soo cool
thank you
you and my other youtube watch friends got me into this watch repair hobby
late in my life but did
cheers
Michael
I think buying a similar watch like the $21.00 Benrus watch and restoring it could be a good giveaway. dollar amount does not matter. that thing is beautiful and if i won a watch like that i would wear it proudly.
Incredible work. For to bucks all in it looks like a million. I've subscribed!
Gorgeous little watch