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Thread: Fake Marathon GSAR on ebay

  1. #1
    Craftsman tanatron's Avatar
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    Fake Marathon GSAR on ebay

    Hi, I don't know what's going on lately but there is an invasion of fake Marathon GSAR watches on eBay.
    This is the last one I reported to eBay :

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marathon-GSA...cAAOSw6btXTKpv

    30 bids on it! Ouch!

    Everything is fake, the dial, the hands, the bezel, the Microtec tritium tubes, the case back that is always the same June 2010 batch. It just look plain wrong to a trained eye.
    And if you open the case you will find a TWE NTY FIVE JEWELS 2024 chinese clone in it.
    These 2 pictures of the fake watch are taken from the italian watch forum :





    http://orologi.forumfree.it/?t=71622508

    Hope this helps.
    Last edited by tanatron; 14th September 2016 at 09:52. Reason: typo

  2. #2
    Craftsman tanatron's Avatar
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    Wow I must have a ton of credibility!
    15 minutes later and the eBay auction has been closed! (It is replaced in my browser by a generic Marathon GSAR search)

  3. #3
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    Well done,it would have fooled me.

  4. #4
    Master Tazmo61's Avatar
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    Well spotted tanatron .

  5. #5
    Craftsman tanatron's Avatar
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    Just as a reminder, these are the original pictures of the eBay-Uk auction of the fake GSAR:



















    Everything is awful and if you get your hands on one of these fakes the bezel has a 60 clicks action instead of a 120 clicks action.

  6. #6
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    Some did have 60 didn't they?

  7. #7
    Craftsman tanatron's Avatar
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    As far as I know the older SAR had in the early 2000s the 60 clicks bezel, the JSAR always had the more conventional 60 minutes/120 clicks bezel.

  8. #8
    Master TakesALickin's Avatar
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    Other than the 60 clicks, what are the "tells"? I had a GSAR about five years ago, and comparing my picture of that watch with the pics from the auction you've put up here, I'm having a difficult time seeing what looks "off" about the Ebay watch. Not questioning your assessment, just wondering what I'm overlooking.


  9. #9
    Craftsman
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    Fake Marathon GSAR on ebay

    Take my hat off to you guys. I struggle to identify these 'tells', which makes me nervous about buying watches on eBay. Keep up the good work.


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    Last edited by ghu1967; 14th September 2016 at 15:06.

  10. #10
    Craftsman tanatron's Avatar
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    They are pretty good indeed, but what really gives them away, is the main feature of the watch: the tiny little tritium viales made by Microtec.
    In the original they are glass viales very weel made, crisply made and cut and you can see clearly the translucent outer glass (like a little neon tube).
    The writings on the dial are not as crisp as you would expect, the bezel in not correctly engraved as it should be and its markers fonts are completely different.
    The same bezel is machined completely wrong on the outside indents (way too big) and the insert in the bezel just looks plain cheap aluminum instead of having a matt finish.
    The 12 hour luminous pip on the bezel is not a perennial green but being Luminova turns green in darkness when catches light.
    The 12 hour tritium vial on the real Marathon dial is orange, not green like all the others.
    The date window is poorly cut and the date wheel is misaligned.
    The crown guards are different.
    The engravings on the back are way off in placement, font, everything is wrong.
    Finally the whole watch looks dull, plasticky and fake.

  11. #11
    Journeyman Hark1812's Avatar
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    I would never have spotted that either.

    Really does make you think twice about buying anything second hand from unknown persons


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  12. #12
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by tanatron View Post
    Wow I must have a ton of credibility!
    15 minutes later and the eBay auction has been closed! (It is replaced in my browser by a generic Marathon GSAR search)
    eBay should do a reward scheme for memebers that correctly identify fake items that are listed.

  13. #13
    Craftsman trott3r's Avatar
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    thanks for the post.
    I have been looking at the gsar marathons in the past.

    Good to know these are being faked now.

  14. #14
    Wrong spelling or gaps in words written on the rotor is a common tell - notice the gap in "twenty"
    It's always worth asking for a movement photo??

  15. #15
    Hate to bump an old thread but being as I won the ebay auction of Tanatrons Images and had that literal watch in my possession for a few days I thought It fitting. Won It at £310.

    I'll admit It had me fooled, I got It on the Thursday and I was laying In my bed on the Sunday looking at It, I was a tad suspect from the beginning because the bezel guards didn't seem right (different size and set out all wrong) I hated the fact the "tritium" had lost most of it's glow (It was dated June 2010 so thought maybe It was just getting old) Had the watch booked in with Page & Cooper for a service even. £280.

    Decided to put the watch under my bedroom light for a minute, turned off the lights and boom It was glowing like mad. I pretty much realised then It was a fake so i checked the bezel clicks and yup 60 clicks as opposed to the 120.

    I then checked the weight and it came In at 96 grams without the strap.

    Checked the thickness and It came In at 12mm.

    The bezel was extremely loose, I'm amazed It passed the water resistance test I did.

    The luminova pip was a dirty horrible green.

    The "tritum" tube at 12 was green as opposed to orange.

    The crown was perfect to be honest.

    I honestly would be surprised If the strap that came with wasn't genuine. Saw nothing that made me think It wasn't.

    I asked for a refund and the seller tried refusing me, claimed It was genuine and his "source" said It was genuine. After a few days I did indeed get my full refund. The seller actually put the watch back up for sale before I'd even shipped It back to him knowing full well it's fake. It was on sale again yesterday, reported It for the third time. Can't believe ebay aren't banning him.

    I'm now the proud owner of a genuine Marathon Gsar with the Canadian armed forces bracelet and I gotta say I just love It. You can tell the difference in quality so much when you know what a genuine one looks and feels like but to the untrained person like whom I was I can see people falling for It.

    Sorry if I used some terrible watch terminology I'm new to the whole watch appreciation game but I was saw a Gsar and fell in love and had to have one. i fear I've a terrible terrible addiction growing.

    Cheers.

  16. #16
    Craftsman windows95's Avatar
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    Fake Marathon GSAR on ebay

    Good to hear you got sorted in the end, I have 4 watches for work and after buying one the GSAR gets all the action.


    Last edited by windows95; 28th September 2016 at 18:30.

  17. #17
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    Fascinating and a bit scary. I'm already paranoid about fakes having read loads of webpages on the lengths some go to.

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