Reply With QuoteHalios are a Vancouver based company.
A pal of mine has moved to Canada though will still be coming back to the UK from time to time with work and family. He's always up for a good challenge so I'm going to ask him if he will source a Canadian watch for me, I'm not sure which watch though. The budget will probably be to the value of £500 or less. So far I've discovered that MWC are a Canadian company, and after ten minutes on Google I found a company called Ferro & Co. I'd not heard of them before but they have some nice designs. Has anyone got any suggestions to help in my quest?
Halios are a Vancouver based company.
A vintage Birks.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Marathon are based Ontario.
You'll have to excuse my ignorance, aren't Marathon the same as MWC? I've never been into their watches but I would definitely consider giving them a try. If I don't like the watch my eldest son would help take it off my hands!Originally Posted by Sinnlover
I have never heard of Marathon having any connection with MWC
Even better. To answer the OP, Marathon are a bona fide maker of military watches whereas MWC are best avoided (lots of stuff all over the forums as to why).
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
There's Momentum, who assemble some of their watches in Vancouver. They're part of the St. Moritz Watch Corp., which is (at least in part) based in Canada.
______
Jim.
Definitely a Marathon SAR of some sort. I have a JSAR which is huge, GSAR, CSAR, MSAR are alternatives I believe and a nice Maple Leafe logo too
Marathon have absolutely nothing to do MWC.
Marathon have a history of watch making going back generations. They are essentially a supplier of military kit to the Canadian and US military (and others) in the same same way Panerai used to be for the Italians. They supply more than watches.
The earlier MSARs have a nice red maple leaf on the dial but these are hens teeth to find.
The modern version has a grey leaf. (Confusingly the Maple SAR was known as the MSAR originally but the medium SAR is also now known as the MSAR)
The JSAR will be in budget 2nd hand
The navigator will be in budget new as will the field watch. Both the JSAR and CSAR are large watches at 46mm not including crown.
MSAR / GSAR is 41mm
They do a smaller medium SAR at 38mm
Last edited by Sinnlover; 27th April 2021 at 17:51.
York & Front are Canadian - https://yorkfront.com/ - not dealt with them.
So are Helgray - https://www.helgray.com/ - the Superfast chrono I have is a really lovely thing, albeit mechaquartz.
And FWIW, MWC is actually based in Switzerland, they just have a CA-specific distributor. FWLIW, despite their oft-quoted failings of the past, I've personally had nothing but excellent service from them.
Just a a little over budget, but good to see something a little more high end from Canada - https://monochrome-watches.com/inter...radley-taylor/
Budgets are meant to be ignored! Cheers everyone, I'm so glad I posted about this, it's an absolute education. I'll look into this more tonight, I've definitely got some good food for thought, thanks.
Few more now I've found my Portable Brain:
Ferro & co.
Vancouver Watch Co.
and the confusingly-named Whitby Watch co.
This thread has got me looking at one of these again.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
I’ve owned a Marathon GSAR, TSAR, MSAR & Navigator and a nice WW2 Waltham that was redialled in the 60s by the RCAF with RCAF printed on the dial, all from a time when they were very affordable. Sold them all. I’ve no idea why, they were all good’uns. I have periodic selling or chucking out frenzies and generally look back on the consequences with deep regret.
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They are a good beater (but not worth the money they charge new) Go for a newer version (if going 2nd hand) as they have a G10 style battery hatch
The rumour on the street says that an all steel cased version will be released this year I.e. a new ADANAC
I will be buying one of those.
The battery in mine is going but I can’t be bothered to change it as it’s a faff!
Edit Ok it’s taken me less than 5 mins to change the battery so not that much of a faff!
Last edited by Sinnlover; 27th April 2021 at 17:48.
If any marathon watch enthusiasts are interested, there was a great interview with their owner, Mitchell Wayne on the W&W podcast last week. Link below for the apple podcast version, though available elsewhere too:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas...=1000518070676
Last edited by Idontgram; 27th April 2021 at 21:26.
What do you make of this - I'm a little put off by what sounds like Chinglish in the text?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184729646...0AAOSwRIlef4xq
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
They have used the stock images from the Marathon web site.
Having seen fake marathons discovered on here a while back I would not be buying from them, I would go straight to marathon or one of their dealers such as Hennie Haynes or their EU site.
That's very helpful, thank you.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
I recognise the seller 'windycitywatchcollector'. I may even have bought some Marathon bits'n'pieces from them about a decade or more ago.
According to the company's website, reached through their eBay page, they're Marathon ADs & have been since 1996.
https://windycitywatchcollector.com/...athon-watches/
I doubt they're 'passing off'.
______
Jim.
In that case he is a known dealer , I did not see who the seller was.
If it is from Windycity it will be all good.
Thanks - it also looks like I can order it directly from their website and avoid Ebay altogether.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
As a Canadian, I'll offer a superficial opinion: HALIOS. I just like them
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