now that is very nice indeed.
June 1990, pre Gulf war.
Anyone else got one.
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now that is very nice indeed.
From ‘91
I have a few
Pictures with other US issued watches
Waiting for the reissue, hopefully soon.
Had one a few years ago and sold it for a pittance
Love that case shape
Sinnlover
thats a cracking collection,those green canvas straps look the part.
There were actual issued Marathon watches for the US army but they have a completely different style from your picture.
Feb ‘91 says “Hi”
maseman
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A new addition brings my Marathon collection up to 6
You either love the utilitarian look or hate it but it’s hard to question the great quality and ‘relative’ value they offer.
Last edited by Sinnlover; 11th August 2021 at 09:44.
I do love my J-SAR but what does it have to do with BMW?
Which one is that, CWC?
I was thinking of expanding the list to Stocker & Yale and also Hamilton. However the former no longer sell watches and most of the originals were rather cheap plastic watches. Whilst the latter made some really good military watches in the past, both for the military of the UK and USA, Hamilton seem to have a bit of a patchy record on their reissues.
CWC are in danger of becoming a parody of Rolex in the fashion stakes if they continue with the high priced reissues… I understand the need to make money but their market is limited and once you start selling reissues for more than you can buy an original for you really have lost the plot, it’s as if they don’t understand their customer base.
Stocker and Yale did make some interesting watches, I still have a 490 and gave a few of their earlier watches to my father to wear - I think he still has them. Yes they were plastic but made to a better standard than the black marathon I own and have included in the group picture. So much so Marathon have copied the construction of the SandY in their latest plastic field watches. - thicker case with aluminium bezel ring and flush crystal. The SandY 650 is still in production by Traser and has inspired a lot of the styling in their watches.
I agree with Hamilton, I have a couple of 6B, these are really excellent quality watches, very well made almost the last of the truly great Hamilton’s. I also have a later 80s US issued Mil- that is poor quality by comparison; it has a Chinese made case, the dial print is poorer, the whole thing is built to a cheaper budget and it feels like it.
The Hamilton 6bb chronographs fall in to 2 batches early (made by Breitling) and later which I think were made by the same firm that made the CWC, Newmark and Precista. (Likely the latter - Southerns IMO) whilst all great quality the early Hamilton’s have an X factor about them.
I have not tried the reissues, some look good, others miss the mark by a wide margin. I do believe quality has improved since the 80s though.
Last edited by Sinnlover; 12th August 2021 at 08:30.
Marathon GSAR 41mm (large)
Marathon JSAR (46mm)
I’ve had a couple of GSARs and found exactly this, wore quite small and just too thick for me. I still love the watches and wish they did something in between the 41mm and 46mm - the JSAR looks huge next to GSAR, and I know I wouldn’t be able to pull that case size off!
I've got this Marathon SAR which I believe is from the first contract (October 2001). I like the size & it's solid build quality. A proper tool watch.
How do people find the GSAR?
Had a tsar years ago and remember liking it but can’t remember any specifics.
The gsar seems better value when compared with a similar cwc. Relatively anyway.
The tsar not so much
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...light=Marathon
Tried to answer the GSAR vs CWC question in this thread.
The Tsar being quartz is easier to live with if you chop and change watches but I prefer the quartz CWCs if I am honest.
The GSAR is a cracking watch that wears thicker but smaller than the CWC
There is not much in it though.
To my eyes the CWC Monnin case design has been around since the '70s and many watch brands have used it. Nothing wrong, and I love it, but common. The GSAR on the other hand looks modern and very distinctive (which these days is not easy to accomplish).
Last edited by abraxas; 11th September 2021 at 14:28.
That's one lovely example! I've got it on my shortlist, Marathon or an Adanac, not too fussed about which, as long as it's issued
I had a marathon GSAR. The bracelet was great but it was too thick for me.
According to a thread on WUS, Marathon are going to reissue the steel Navigator but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of recent progress on it:
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/n...5178843/page-5
One of my many regrets:
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/s...celet.1253442/
Yes I’ve missed out on one in the past too. However, I think I now prefer the (Benrus) Type II dial of the GSAR/TSAR to the Type I dial of the original SAR, even though the dial on the latter is more busy than the dial on the former. I suspect I’m in the minority opinion on that though.
Isn't that a beaut? I wonder what happened to the GMT:
https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/images/...0A_500x500.JPG
JSAR for me, love it, had to go and buy the steel bracelet to add to it. Great combo and good for biceps
Had a 1991 Marathon Navigator for a while but let it go to fund purchasing this 1985 GG-W-113
Just because I am wearing one today
First generation MSAR - maple search and rescue. One of 500 made in 2009 and issued to troops working security for the Vancouver Olympics (apparently)
Nice! I keep reading your rather excellent review https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...on-MSAR-Review)
I now have the urge to buy a GSAR! I have a nice CWC divers but my watch collecting 'rule' will only allow me to own one or the other.
Decisions, decisions.......................!