James William Benson (12 April 1826 – 7 October 1878) was an English scientific instrument maker, gold/silversmith, and watchmaker.
They purchased the premises, and possibly the business interests, of established companies in London at Cornhill and Ludgate Hill, from which they sometimes claimed a date of foundation of 1749.
Throughout its history, J. W. Benson Ltd was official watchmaker to the Admiralty and the War Department and also held a number of royal warrants, being watchmakers to Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, the Tsar of Russia, Abu Bakar of Johor and several other royal families.
During World War II the factory was bombed, destroying thousands of timepieces and from this point on the company no longer manufactured its own watches, but still continued as a retailer.
The timepieces bearing the company name used high-quality Swiss movements supplied by manufacturers such as, Vertex (Revue), Universal Genève, Cyma/Tavannes, Longines and by the English maker, S. Smith & Sons.