The crown is a 5.5mm knurled crown, the knurling is a very cool touch. That is largely what contributes to the watches wearing smaller than it is. The bezel overhangs the case by a good millimeter on each side. The case on the GSAR is utilitarian, brushed steel facets with an oversized bezel and crown. Spot on time keeping observationally, with my WatchTuner app showing +/- 1-2s/day. The data on the performance of this movement by Marathon is a bit mixed, but my experience has been really good. ETA movements are a well known variable in the watch world, the A2 iteration is slightly thinner and has a longer power reserve than the regular ETA 2824-2. Marathon chose the ETA 2824-A2, a robust and well known Swiss-Made movement with a 42hr power reserve. The crown itself is oversized for quick adjustments but it can also dig into your hand at times. I’ve found that on both the rubber strap and the bracelet it’s very comfortable and relatively unobtrusive in your day-to-day, with the exception of the crown. The bezel overhangs the case a little bit so in terms of actual case size fit, it wears smaller than it looks. On my 7.25” wrist it wears like an Seiko SKX with a little more girth. The Marathon GSAR comes with a 42mm case, but it’s on the taller side. Weight: 4.1oz on rubber, 6oz on bracelet.So with all that said, these are truly purpose built watches, that are built to a high standard, we’ll go more into that later. I bought mine from a gentleman on an USAF base, and mine does say that it is US Government contract (I have no idea if it was actually issued to him or not). They are also manufactured on contract, the units available for civilian purchase are overruns from those contract batches. Modern marathons have NSN numbers and are issued to military units. Marathon watches are made primarily for military contract, they began making watches for allied forces in 1941 and have maintained a reputation for that ever since.

I mention the TSAR because that watch left an impression on me, to the point where 3 or so years later I picked up the GSAR. When I first started getting into watches I was presented with an opportunity to pickup a Marathon TSAR, which is essentially the quartz version of the Marathon GSAR, which is the watch I’ll be reviewing today. Marathon Watches are the latter in that statement. There are timepieces that you take on adventures, and then there are timepieces that make whatever you’re doing feel like an adventure. We may get paid an affiliate commission if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of the links on this web page.

Marathon Gsar Serial Number