Reply With QuoteIs that better or worse than the civilian market?
Best wishes,
Bob
Hi All,
One aspect of WISdom could be trying to decode the various lines on the back of U.S. miltary watches! Most of us know about the NATO stock Number, but I was trying find out more about the Contract number (the line with "GS-OWF-xxxxx" in it). After a bit of Googling around, here is where you can find info on <u>current</u> govt. purchased stuff. There is a search field, into which I promptly typed 6645-00-066-4279 (as found on a great many US military watches). Up popped the good old Marathon Type 1 plastic watch selling to the govt. for $40.90! Well, "what about Navigators?" I go, and enter 6645-01-364-4042 (thanks, Hyunsuk) - the govt. gets them for a princely $59.85.
The Contract number on watches and, presumably, toilet seats etc, is a GSA (US General Services Administration) number. Unfortunately, even though they have a shopping cart and a checkout, Joe Public can't buy stuff from there(I tried)!
Regards,
Is that better or worse than the civilian market?
Best wishes,
Bob
I'd expect to pay US$ 80-130 for a field watch, and US$ 140-165 for a Navigator at what equates the recommended retail price ... cheaper for sales and if you are lucky on eBay.Originally Posted by rfrazier
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
If you're a big customer, you'd expect to get a discount. And I doubt they have to pay sales tax :D
Cheers,
Gert
I would say the government gets them for the wholesale price, more or less. The difference is for the dealers between Marathon and the private customer. Marathon does not sell to consumers directly.
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
I would have guessed the US government was spending thousands each on watches like they do for toilet seats and hammers! :DI'd expect to pay US$ 80-130 for a field watch, and US$ 140-165 for a Navigator at what equates the recommended retail price ... cheaper for sales and if you are lucky on eBay.
Nice footwork, Ted ... seeing that the Marathon Tritium-vialed SAR has been GSA-listed recently and delivered to NASA, is there a price for that, too?
It is offical GSA has awarded contract and taked delivery of the first run of TSAR watches ordered for NASA.
NSN: 6645-20-001-9382/ NSN:6645-21-558-0133Q
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
[/quote]It is offical GSA has awarded contract and taked delivery of the first run of TSAR watches ordered for NASA.
NSN: 6645-20-001-9382/ NSN:6645-21-558-0133Q
$247.80/$309.75 :shock:
Great find!
$247.80/$309.75 :shock:
Great find![/quote]
Ah, I finally figured it out. NSN 6645-21-558-0133 (note the absence of the Q) refers to a 17-jewel dive watch, not the tritium/quartz SAR. The first price is for the automatic version.
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
Is there a price for the Marathon SAR?
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
The automatic retails for $ 247.80, as indicated correctly in the previous post.
I have all the prices I could find on the WUS forum: http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=7088
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
Not to confuse the word 'retail', but Marathon does seem to have a sort of retail outlet on-line here. Their price for a "TSAR" as they call it is US $425.The automatic retails for $ 247.80, as indicated correctly in the previous post.
And the Maraglo quartz field watch is going for $75, not a bad price.
Contrast these with out-of-sight prices being achieved on eBay lately for just about everything Marathon!
TTFN,
I double-checked and now I am confused. The NSN which CountyComm give on their website for the Quartz-SAR (6645-20-001-9382) when entered in the GSA website throws up this:The automatic retails for $ 247.80, as indicated correctly in the previous post.
I have all the prices I could find on the WUS forum: http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=7088
This reads like a combination of the automatic and the quartz versions to me, with the 25 minimum jewels and a quartz movement. :lol:Product: Divers Watch
[WATCH,WRIST]
NSN/Mfr Part #: 6645-20-001-9382
Mfr: N/A
Desc: Divers wrist watch features rubber strap and meets latest edition of ISO-6425; analogue 2 scale dial showing standard and supplemental time, 1 second sweep hand, 1 minute hand, 1 hour hand; 11-1/2 size movement, 25 jewel minimum. Watch works on high torque quartz movement, nonmagnetic for a 3-year running time without battery change. Divers watch is waterproof, approximately 148 psi maximum tested pressure; submersible with revolving external bezel calibrated from 0 to 60 in white marking on black background. Date indication is provided. Waranted for parts and labor for a period of 3 years.
So possibly the price of US$ 247.80 quoted is really for the quartz version, if CC is correct about the NSN, and if the GSA website has not been updated for the quartz version of the watch ...
Sorry about not spotting the inconsistency earlier.
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
Folks,
A caveat, the GSA site is not perfect - we <u>are</u> talking US govt. here!
Another anomaly is when entering 6645-00-066-4279, it finds two watches:
The top one's photo looks like a Sandy 490 and the description goes on about a stainless steel (!) bezel but when you follow the links you end up with a Marathon plastic field watch.
The bottom one shows and is a Marathon plastic field watch.
TTFN
This is not an anomaly. The NSNs are not unique to watch models, but to the mil-spec. In this case, both the Sandy and the Marathon were built to the Type 1 milspec. You can easily have several watches conform to a given mil-spec, and be issued with the same NSN.
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
Sorry, Crusader, didn't make myself clear. Yes, of course the 6645-00-066-4279 stock no. is as old as the hills and covers many makes of watch. But, because the GSA is only listing current contracts, the anamoly is that SandY is not now an approved vendor so the picture and the description are both wrong.
Maybe it's not a SandY at all, but something new! Still, when you follow the links you do end up with a regular Marothon field watch.
best,
I was thinking that perhaps the GSA lists old stock, too, in addition to current contracts? Could that explain the anomaly?
Cheers,
Martin ("Crusader")
Unfortunately, it seems not. The reason I ended up on that site was that I wanted to enter an old Contract number and get the Manufacturer, and the quantity purchased so as to assess rarity. An elusive grail!
Best,
If it is any consolation the CWC G10 I am reliably informed costs 17.50 pounds!
Nimrod
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