Marathon TSAR - questions and concerns
I’ve peeked at the Marathon site over the years. I’ve been intrigued by the General Purpose and 41mm TSAR.
I recently dropped my SKX on the bathroom tile, fouled the hairspring, and enjoyed +30 min/day inaccuracy before I repaired it. This, to my mind, meant I had an excuse to get an indestructible, set-and-forget, brutalist watch.
Now, you might think that my box full of G-Shocks fills this role, but nothing about the hobby is truly logical. So I took advantage of the recent Marathon sale and got a 41mm TSAR, which came free with a general purpose quartz.
They arrived, and I was thrilled! But…the TSAR wasn’t running. I set the time, and it started working. I contacted customer service, and they said the ETA F06 movement ships in ‘off mode’. Is that even a thing? The general purpose was running on arrival, and it has the same movement. Perhaps more concerning, I wore the watch to work, and not 7 hours later, the watch had lost 30 seconds already. It seems to be intermittently losing time, the phenomenon has continued. Customer service was kind, but not worried- they asked that I keep wearing it and check the timing.
I like the design of the watch, I like the tritium. But…the bezel’s misaligned, the seconds hand doesn’t line up with the markers, and now I’m monitoring timing on a quartz watch? These are the quirks I accept from one of my vintage watches, or below-$300 watches. The whole point of this watch was to not have to worry about it. My beater Casio Duro has better quality control (perfect alignment, have adjusted the time only for daylight savings)
So, high points:
1) is ‘off mode’ a thing for the ETA F06 (and I’m not talking about when the crown is pulled out)
2) have people out there had similar experiences with their Marathon watches?
I started, like many, with Casio’s as a kid. Then I got a Seiko SNZG, then an SKX. Then I started taking them apart and fixing them (thanks, YouTube). Then I found my grandpa’s old 1960’s Seamaster an...
My Navigator lost a few minutes one night after I first got it, but I never saw the same issue again.
If you need the seconds hand to hit the markers, you're not going to like Marathon.
I think you'll find all brands have an allowance for some misalignment on the bezel, and based on the picture above your bezel doesn't look off at all, but picture angles can be deceiving.
Thank you for the reassurance! I’m just nit-picking the bezel and seconds hand - their misalignment isn’t glaring. With a quartz movement, my only thought is that maybe the battery isn’t held in a clip, so it can jostle loose momentarily and pause the watch? What I’m really curious about is the ‘off mode’ for the F06. I’ve never heard of that.
Thank you for the reassurance! I’m just nit-picking the bezel and seconds hand - their misalignment isn’t glaring. With a quartz movement, my only thought is that maybe the battery isn’t held in a clip, so it can jostle loose momentarily and pause the watch? What I’m really curious about is the ‘off mode’ for the F06. I’ve never heard of that.
I get that it's tough to line up the seconds hand with all the markers, but the bezel baffles me. Whenever I hear this complaint (I'm looking at you Seiko) I just don't get it. The bezel insert is applied to the bezel, so aligning it is just a matter of lining it up. It's not like the machining of the bezel itself matters, just stick the insert on correctly and it's good. So to me, this isn't nitpicking.
I get that it's tough to line up the seconds hand with all the markers, but the bezel baffles me. Whenever I hear this complaint (I'm looking at you Seiko) I just don't get it. The bezel insert is applied to the bezel, so aligning it is just a matter of lining it up. It's not like the machining of the bezel itself matters, just stick the insert on correctly and it's good. So to me, this isn't nitpicking.
I’m not certain, but I imagine that the bezel insert on many watches is placed on the bezel before the bezel is mounted on the watch. So maybe it’s just a crap-shoot how well it lines up.
I’m not certain, but I imagine that the bezel insert on many watches is placed on the bezel before the bezel is mounted on the watch. So maybe it’s just a crap-shoot how well it lines up.
That would explain it. I'm not a watch manufacturing expert, but putting the insert on last seems like an easy fix. Or maybe they don't get enough complaints to change how they do it. Seiko has the same issue, and they seem to still sell lots of watches.
I have to update on the customer service response. I was just about to send a frustrated email when I got a call from Joe with their service department. He was kind, apologetic, and eager to rectify the issue. He sent me a return label and promised to get this resolved, with a movement swap if necessary; and no cost to me. I’ll update when I get the watch back in hand.
Final update: they sent me back the watch 4 weeks after I submitted it. They changed out the movement, even though they weren’t able to replicate the problem in their office. It’s running great now! Big thanks to Joe and Marathon for standing behind their product.