Are you a Marathon man?

[robsteve]

Over the past month or so I have been able to add to my Marathon Collection. I found a stainless steel Navigator on Ebay with an old Adanac face. Using the plastic Navigator Date, I swapped the faces to get the modern bright tritium dial. Surprisingly, the movement in the steel watch was a date movement and worked with the date dial. I also customized the second hand by painting it red.

Here is a picture of the whole family. I have the SAR on a brown leather Hirsh Leonardo curved end strap, which looks pretty good as a combo. The steel Navigator is on a grey leather nato. The plastic Navigator on a cheap rubber jubilee pattern bracelet. On the end is a TSAR on an original Marathon rubber strap.



The modified steel Navigator with new dial and painted second hand on a bond Nato, chose to go with the black/grey/red combo of the watch.



Now that I have a steel Navigator, which has a screw down crown like the SAR watches, I may end up not wearing the SARS as much. The plastic Navigator is now my beater, worn while working around cars/boats or painting and other chores.

Robert

[DSJ]

I'd love one of these some day!

[wsaraceni]

i just ordered my first watch ever. a marathon gsar. a black and a bond nato band. should be here monday. it's no a submariner, but you gotta start somewhere!

[robsteve]

Originally Posted by wsaraceni

i just ordered my first watch ever. a marathon gsar. a black and a bond nato band. should be here monday. it's no a submariner, but you gotta start somewhere!

You will love the Tritium lume on it. I was wearing my Steel Navigator with the tritium lume this weekend when doing some overnight boating. The watch was so bright, it was like a spotlight on the wall/bulkhead of the dark cabin. I also had my SAR and Rolex with me and decided to check them out in the dark too. The Marglow on the SAR was still plenty bright to read in the dark, even though it was not purposefully charged. The Rolex Turn-O-Graph was the dimmest, but it only has small Luminova dots compared to the huge Luminova Markers on the SAR.

Robert

[robsteve]

Went for a swim today with the Navigator. Unlike the modern plastic versions, this version has a screw down crown and and is rated for 10ATM.

Robert



Here it is underwater.

[wsaraceni]

Does the us government really buy these for anything or is it just a marketing thing?

[robsteve]

Originally Posted by wsaraceni

Does the us government really buy these for anything or is it just a marketing thing?

If you search on the military watch forums, you can find copies of purchase orders where the govt has bought thousands of them. I have no idea when and how they issue them.

Here is a site that sells the modern plastic version. As you can see there is a photo of a Nasa Pilot wearing one.

http://www.countycomm.com/navdate.htm

Robert

[wsaraceni]

Originally Posted by robsteve

Went for a swim today with the Navigator. Unlike the modern plastic versions, this version has a screw down crown and and is rated for 10ATM.

Robert



Here it is underwater.

thats nice. is it mechanical or quartz? i notice the marathon website has one listed as manual wind but cant find info on the watch.

[robsteve]

It is quartz and seems to be very accurate. If you are looking for this watch on the Marathon site, you will not find it because it is a 1990 vintage watch.

The manual wind watches on the Marathon site are quite basic field watches, and not waterproof. It would look similar to the one linked below, but with a manual wind movement.

http://www.countycomm.com/MARAGLOWDESCRIP.htm

An Ebay search using "military marathon watch -timex" brings up a manual wind Marathon general purpose watch.

Robert

[mhmfao]

Originally Posted by wsaraceni

Does the us government really buy these for anything or is it just a marketing thing?

ALCON,

I've worked in or with nearly all of the DoD service components and agencies over the last 20 years and have never seen a Marathon on a member that was government purchased. Of the 5 or so Marathons I've seen on members over the last 5 years, each was reported by the member as being self purchased.

Marathon may have acquired certification as a General Services Administration (GSA) contractor and managed to get their products listed in the catalogue, but very few units in the DoD can justify the use of U.S. taxpayer money to purchase these watches for their members. Even if a unit could justify the expense, it would likely use the funds for other, more critical purchases that members are not able to make themselves on the open market. The SEALs, EOD divers, FACs, pilots, and navs I've talked to about their watches all reported buying their own.

Some other governments view issuing watches to some unit members as a justifiable expense (Italy for example), but I believe that this practice is in decline due to the availability of inexpensive quartz watches and shrinking defense budgets.

Another point to note is that many DoD members prefer not to wear equipment marked "U.S. Government" when off duty for Anti-Terrorism / Force Protection (ATFP) reasons as these products mark them as potential targets.

Note that these comments are based only on my personal experience and observations. There are likely other TRF members out there with different experiences and observations.

V/R,
Mike

[robsteve]

Originally Posted by mhmfao

Another point to note is that many DoD members prefer not to wear equipment marked "U.S. Government" when off duty for Anti-Terrorism / Force Protection (ATFP) reasons as these products mark them as potential targets.

V/R,
Mike

Mike:

Marathon also has some sterile faces without the US Government markings on them. For those that are really paranoid they have an extra special edition linked below

http://www.countycomm.com/Mapleleafgsar.htm

[mhmfao]

Robsteve,

That's a good watch for those in the U.S. foreign service.
When asked, it's always convenient to answer, No, I'm Canadian.
Canadians are welcome everywhere it seems.
V/R,
Mike

[robsteve]

I found the site with a copy of the Purchase order when 1540 of the plastic Navigators were ordered by the US Govt in 2003. The site also has an interesting history of the Military watches. BTW, they paid 41.80 for them. The retailers sell them for $160.

Robert

http://home.earthlink.net/~brendo81/...s/W46374G.html

[wsaraceni]

Good interesting stuff. Mine should be here monday

[robsteve]

Originally Posted by wsaraceni

Good interesting stuff. Mine should be here monday

Which one did you buy?

Robert

[wsaraceni]

GSAR. also ordered a black nato and a bond nato. hopefully the nato straps will be long enough for my 9"wrist

[robsteve]

Bill:

I just measured a bond nato that I have and on the last hole the inside circumference is 9 inches. I also have a German made Zulu with the large oval rings and it measure to 10 inches to the last hole. The German made Zulus are a bit thicker and more sustantial, which fits the SAR better.

Robert

[wsaraceni]

great. 9" should fit. if not ill look for the german made zulus

[robsteve]

Bill:

Here is a picture of my TSAR on a black German made Zulu.

[robsteve]

It raining here today, so I put the SAR back on the waterproof Hisrch Mobile curved end strap.

Now that my son has a waterproof camera, I may try to get some shots of this userwater or breaking the surface like I have for the steel Navigator.

Robert

[wsaraceni]

i gotta get better pictures when it's light out this weekend, but here it is. my FIRST watch (besides junky ones i had as a kid). a GSAR automatic




and luckily the nato band fit no problem

thanks
bill

[robsteve]

Bill:

It looks good on you. With a big wrist like yours, you need a watch the size of a GSAR.

Robert

[wsaraceni]

thanks. it even looked a little small to me when i first put it on but now that i am wearing it, i think it looks fine.

bill

[wsaraceni]

Robert,

have you ever heard of anyone swapping out the navigator movement for a ETA 2824 auto movement as in the sar/gsar? ive seen a few jsar and tsar conversions. just wondering if it would be possible to do in a navigator. i think that would be a cool custom "upgrade" for the watch

[robsteve]

I don't think the case is thick enough for the auto-wind weight. I have seen the steel ones with 17j manual wind movements.

Robert

[wsaraceni]

that would be cool too. were they factory or modded with manual wind movements? ill have to look for that one

[robsteve]

These are just custom mods. In one case it was from an Ebay seller and in the other case, a private collector had his watchmaker do it.

Here is the Bulova one.

http://www.50717.com/us/mara-navi-review.html

Robert

[robsteve]

This is from about an hour ago. The Marathon SAR doing what it was designed for, getting wet in the Canadian North Atlantic :)

Robert

[robsteve]

I have been wearing my Marathon SAR for the past few days. Here it is in the water again, on a Bond Nato. This shot was from last night.

Robert

[Dan Pierce]

I love your half in/ half out of the water shots!

Wore my SAR on nato the last couple days as well.
Tons of watch for the $$.
dP