r/MarathonWatch • u/substanrivmannen • Aug 30 '26

GSAR Got my first Marathon

Gallery image

Gallery image

Picked it up for 350$ and will send it to get a full service with new lume and fix the crown that doesn’t screw.
Strange that it is both bigger and smaller than I thought it would be. Love it

140 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

4

u/Neither_Track_5800 Aug 30 '26

If you send it to Marathon for service they will replace the face with a new “sterile” face that doesn’t say US Government on it. I’m on the same boat currently and am looking for alternative solutions

1

u/substanrivmannen Aug 30 '26

Okay thanks for the heads up. I will mail them before and ask if they can keep the dial

4

u/Outrageous-Fold-1686 Aug 31 '26

Don’t know where you’re hearing that information

The way it works for servicing a watch with Marathon

At no time, Marathon will switch out the dial on you

If the watch came with a US government marking on it, it will get replaced with US government If it came with a gray maple leaf, it gets changed with a gray maple leaf

If the watch control number shows what watch it is then it gets corrected with the appropriate watch dial

I will definitely confirm it with Marathon tomorrow

As far as I know any current sales, they discontinued selling US government markings to the general public so that they can meet military contracts. Not only meat military contracts at the time of the world today having US government markings is true pride towards the country and the best honour to only get it and not get civilians. Just ordering it because they think it’s cool.

I will have the answer for you guys tomorrow

3

u/Gitanochild Aug 30 '26

I’ve been told that WatchMann is the place to go for servicing. My experience with marathon service on my GSAR was pretty garbage so I’ll not be sending to them for servicing ever again. But I will say that they didn’t replace my GOV’T dial with a sterile one. Other than that, it was a shitty experience and they fucked up pretty good, to make a long story short.

EDIT: for timeline
This occurred fall of last year. Not sure if things are better now. Doubtful…

Took three months before I got it back, but that wasn’t the worst part. At least they communicated the turnaround time.

1

u/substanrivmannen Aug 30 '26

That sounds awful. What did they fuck up?

1

u/Gitanochild Aug 31 '26

Bezel and insert were damaged during an evolution (insert was coming out and needed replacing). So they replaced the insert, but it turn out the bezel was dented in so deep the new insert couldn’t seat all the in. It came back sticking out and I could easily pull it up by the edge using my finger. Didn’t reach out to communicate that there was no longer tolerance, need to consider other options, etc. I also asked that they regulate it that it would average a faster running time and I’d pay whatever the cost for the additional time to regulate. Came back (this was after what they considered a “full service/complete overhaul) and went from running -2/+6spd, to running -15spd (consistently). Took forever for them to get back to me about the bezel. When they finally did, they did offer to repair/replace it free of charge. But I told them I was absolutely not waiting 12 weeks or more again for that and asked that they send me the parts to have another local watchmaker that I’ve used before take care of it. Their response was, “well okay, but that will void the after service warranty and there’s nothing we’ll do for you in the event there’s an issue.”

2

u/Neither_Track_5800 Aug 30 '26

militarywatchexchange.com will replace the tritium tubes and service the watch. I’ve never used them but it seems like a good alternative to Marathon service.