Discovered: Lubavitcher Rebbe's and Rebbetzin's wristwatches

• Author: Arutz Sheva Staff
• Published date: 08 June 2021
• Date: 08 June 2021

The Rebbe's watch was manufactured by the American watchmaking company Benrus and purchased by the Rebbe Raayatz circa 1929-30 during his journey to the United States together with his son-in-law Rabbi Shemaryahu Gurary, the Rashag. During this era, Benrus watches were all the rage and actually worn by the U.S. military from World War II through Vietnam.

This particular piece was gifted by the Rebbe Rayatz to the Rebbe, most likely during his stopover in Berlin upon his return to Europe before setting out to Riga. The Rebbe wore this watch throughout over a decade during the 1930s and in the beginning of the 1940s, interchanging it with the first watch that he'd received from his father-in-law as an engagement gift. He ceased wearing it in 1945 when the band tore.

When the Rebbe and Rebbetzin relocated from New York Avenue to their iconic residence on President's Street, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka offered the watch to her sister who changed the leather band and then presented it as a gift to her husband, the Rashag, who wore it from then on.

In the famous photograph documenting the reunion of the Rebbe and his mother Rebbetzin Chana in Paris after she fled Soviet Russia on route to America, the Rebbe is seen wearing a watch that bears a striking resemblance to the watch currently up for auction. It is likely the same watch that he...