We’re kind of becoming experts of Benrus at Mainspring. Thus far we’ve reviewed three of the brand’s recent releases—two of which being faithful recreations of iconic military specimens, the DTU-2A/P and Type 2 MIL-SPEC, and the other a contemporary reinterpretation of a movie’s icon, the #3061 BU. In all three instances, today’s version of Benrus offers quality and finely made watches priced a little over my personal comfort zone but which, however, offer great value and particularly satisfying wearing experiences. Although today we often say that we don’t have to spend too much money to acquire a good timepiece, sometimes spending more than we normally would does come with perks. In Benrus’ instance, watches of high manufacturing quality and precise designs, which make the brand stand out from the sea of micro, independent, and mainstream brands. Moreover, Benrus is now both re-editing some of its most celebrated collections but also taking some risks with new designs. 

After reviewing the DTU-2A/P,  I wasn’t taken by surprise to see Benrus release the Type 1 and Type 2’s as they are both as iconic as the former. Neither was I shocked to see the recent announcement of a new Sky Chief chronograph—even though it left me feeling giddy like a kid about to open up a long-awaited Christmas present. (If I were to indeed get my hands on one.) What I didn’t expect from the brand is the #3061 GT. A continuation of the #3061 BU itself a re-creation of the Benrus Steve McQueen wore in the 1968 movie Bullitt—same overall design but modern proportions and technology—inspired by the green Ford Mustang GT the bad boy of Hollywood drove in the famous movie feature. From the car the watch borrows the color and name and the “GT” probably refers to either the healthy list of specifications the watch comes with or the singularity of its design which characterized the muscular silhouette of the Ford. Whatever it is, the Benrus #3061 GT is cool and different. 

Specifications 

Let’s talk price right off the bat as you will be able to plot everything which follows against it and be the judge whether or not this model will make sense for you from a specifications-design-price perspective. You already know how I feel about this—read above—and I’m conscious that we each have our own parameters by which to judge the value of a timepiece. Thus the Benrus #3061 GT will set you back $1,895 USD or CHF 1,799.87 including taxes which is not cheap change for a time + date model albeit it is made in Switzerland, however much value these three words might hold for you. What I can tell you as someone who’s spent some time with the #3061 GT is that it is finely manufactured and finished to a level which still, in many instances, proves that Switzerland has the upperhand over other countries. And this feeling of quality shines through the spotless hands and hour markers and the mirror-polished and satin-brushed finishes, whilst an impression of quality stems from the overall feel and weight of the watch on the wrist. 

Don’t get me wrong, the $3061 GT is not heavy but it commands a certain wrist presence on account of its dimensions and indeed finish, as the case measures 39.5mm in diameter, 47mm lug-to-lug, 9.95mm thick, comes with a 20mm lug width, and the combination of the fabulous polished fixed bezel and double-domed sapphire crystal confer to this model a confident wrist presence. (You really ought to see it in the metal to understand what I’m rambling about.) 39.5mm in diameter is larger than I wish it would be for this type of watch—a field watch in my eyes—however the case is just short enough to fit my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist comfortably and 9.95mm is relatively thin given what follows. What I thoroughly appreciated about the 34mm DTU-2A/P is the existence of an ETA caliber within its beadblasted body, and we also miraculously find this brand of movement inside the #3061 GT: a 2892 beating away at 4Hz and endowed with 42 hours of power reserve. When playing around with the GT I was reminded once again of the smooth winding of a Swiss caliber. 

What I also appreciated about the DTU and which we find here as well is a screw-down crown and case-back, the former being often absent from mid-tier Swiss watches. The crown measures 5.8mm in diameter and is particularly satisfying to operate as it comes with a bulbous onion-like profile and good knurling. (Unscrewed, it also stands clear of the case by many millimeters making it even easier to use to set the time and date.) Both features endow the #3061 GT with 100 meters of water resistance which is excellent in my book, which, coupled to a double-domed sapphire crystal with inner AR coating indicates we’re supposed to use that watch to do many things with. Moreover, there are generous applications of BGW9 on the hands and applied markers so that we do find ourselves with a complete sports watch, and the see-through sapphire case-back adds an umph of non-tangible refinement which I do appreciate. To highlight the sportive nature of the GT, Benrus ships it on an orange leather strap which oddly comes with a sandblasted buckle. 

Design 

From a technical standpoint, we do get a lot for the $1,895 USD/CHF 1,799.87 but perhaps not enough to compel you to pull the trigger on this model. We must at once turn out attention to the #3061 GT’s design which could move your finger over the “Add to cart” button on the Benrus website. Even though I believe that “GT” refers to the healthy spec list of this model, in addition to directly nodding to the Ford Mustang Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt of course, it is highly probable that this designation implies a certain blend of sportive design which now endows many modern European cars whose appearance is that of racing machine even though their engines are purposely limited in power to limit their CO2 emissions. (I own such a car and I derive great satisfaction from its cool looks even though it doesn’t roar like the V8 of 1968 Ford Mustang GT.) And this is where things get interesting: Benrus took many liberties with the design indeed creating something new albeit based on the proven chassis of the #3061 BU I reviewed last year. 

First, there is the unexpected implementation of a California dial within the #3061 platform which makes the GT easy to read as these dials were meant to be, composed of large Arabic numerals at the 4, 5, 7 and 8 positions, Roman numerals at the 1, 2, 10 and 11, batons at the 2, 6, and 9, and lastly, an inverted triangle at the 12. All markers are applied and made of polished surrounds, and filled with generous quantities of BGW9. The hands are also easy to read, the hour and minute ones shaped like pencils, also polished and lume-filled, whilst the seconds hand is entirely painted orange and complemented by a pinion cap giving the ensemble an air of speedometer found on the dashboard of a muscle car. (The pinion cap is entirely polished and superbly made and I wish more brands would bother with these.) To continue on the theme of the unexpected, the dial showcases a stamped pattern made of high-rise batons organized in tight rows, horizontally segmented by four narrow gaps, on which a 24-hour military scale is printed in black ink. 

I could not figure out what the dial pattern refers to in regards to the Ford Mustang GT if it does refer to anything at all*. But visually it looks different and confer to the #3061 GT a racy appearance which matches this collection’s source of inspiration and which makes it stand out from Benrus’s collections. Another welcome surprise is the addition of a date aperture at the six o’clock for which the hour marker was rotated 90 degrees, made of a beveled frame, green date disc on which are printed the date numerals in white for optimum legibility. Another surprise is the rehaut: a polished lower section with printed numerals and long minute hash-marks, and a green upper section with smaller minute hash-marks and triangles marking the five-minute increments. At first I thought the green ring on the rehaut was a reflection of the dial color and was pleased to find out it wasn’t the case. The case by the way is what I would now describe as being your standard Benrus affair: flat with a narrow mid-case and superb finishing throughout. 

*One website claims it refers to the urban grid of San Francisco in which the car chase took place. 

The Heart of the Matter

Objectively speaking, the Benrus #3061 GT is technically comprehensive. It has a good movement, lume, water resistance, and finishing, and thus makes for a great everyday timepiece. It is the kind of watch you can sport day in and day out and which will perform well in most instances of human activity. Subjectively speaking, from a design perspective it’s a bit odd—the combination of a California layout on a green patterned dial and a 24-hour military scale is frankly strange—however it constitutes this model’s core strength: instead of releaseing another version of the #3061 BU with a green dial, Benrus created a new design which pays tribute to the movie the first #3061 was inspired by, and the watch Steve McQueen sported in the movie. It is therefore a clever way to create a new version of a brand’s iconic model whilst at the same time doubling down on the Hollywood feature which gave this watch its time in the limelight. In other words, the Benrus #3061 GT shows what the thoughtful transformation of a historical b rand looks like. 

Conclusion 

In the past six years I’ve reviewed quite a few watches themed around car racing, human exploits, or movies. I always made a point not to review any watch which looks gimmicky or far-fetched—in the sense that they would look like memorabilia and not de facto watches we feel comfortable sporting on our wrists—as I appreciate timekeeping devices which are inspired by something in away that it makes sense to infuse into a wristworn machine. And that is exactly what the Benrus #3061 GT is what makes it so compelling in addition to being technically well-rounded and visually different—different from what the brand normally does and from what the market is made out of. If you liked what you saw today and believe that the asking $1,895 USD/CHF 1,799.87 is fair, then hop on Benrus’ website to do you-know-what.

Thanks for reading.