The brand Marathon might be new to some, but not for Canadians, Americans, and especially military watch fanatics like us. The moniker is better known to watch collectors be among the few that, until today, officially offers no-frills timepieces to the military. Those regimes include the United States and Canadian army since circa 70 years ago.

Marathon GPM NGM Desert Tan Mechanical Ref. WW194003DT-NGM

Let’s dive a little deeper. The company that was to become Marathon Watch was founded in 1904 as Weinsturm Watch, later to be named Wein Brothers. In 1939, Morris Wein founded Marathon Watch, supplying fine precision timepieces throughout North America. Since 1941, Marathon has been manufacturing timing instruments for the Allied Forces, and today the fourth generation of the family continues the tradition with a wide range of tools measuring time, temperature, and distance. Marathon watches combine military durability with Swiss engineering and craftsmanship to ensure the highest level of quality and precision. All these traits unveiled on their take of the 1960s MIL-W-46374 military watch- the Marathon GPM NGM Desert Tan Mechanical Ref. WW194003DT-NGM that we are going to introduce today.

The acronym “GPM” stands for “General Purpose Mechanical.”- where appropriate military personnel gets offered these officially issued field watches. Since this specific model built to be taken mostly on land, it fits appropriately for the ground trooper’s branch all round. The GPM Mechanical celebrates form over function, a non-flashy watch for sure, but builds with a purpose to aid the army with their missions. This particular reference differs from its sibling (Government Standard) with its sterile dial; the “NGM” acronyms affirm the “No Government Markings” on its dial.

Made in Switzeland, Approved by US Government

Entering the field watch realm, Marathon has based on the MIL-W-46374 specifications and manufactured for the US army between 1968 till today with several revisions, lending them to be the longest-running specifications required by the US government. Summarizing what the MIL-W-46374 is all about, it needed to have 15 jewels (or more) mechanical movement with at least 36 hours of power reserve, that has a hacking mechanism with shock resistance and waterproofness. Further, the watch needs to have nylon strap attached to it, and to use tritium for its luminous hands and markers that have to glow for 8 hours or more in total darkness. The case made out of steel and plastic resin, allowing to be anti-magnetic. Similar to other military watches, the size kept between 34-36mm with the military 24-hour dial indication. All these traits can be seen even today in Marathon’s GPM Mechanical, in keeping what field watches are all about.

The GPM NGM Mechanical sets forth as an excellent tool watch with a unique personality. It starts with its metal core covered entirely by a high-impact fiber shell in a cool desert brown colour-tone, that measures 34mm wide, with a height of 11mm thick and 41mm lug to lug. Further, the finishing of the steel bezel gets a full sand-blasted finishing, removing any source of inessential reflections in this case, while still being immaculately executed. The matte case pays tribute to the original GG-W-113 specs with parkerized finishing that also serves to be anti-corrosion for that period. The case has a unique bezel-less design, where it gets a stepped architecture from the sides to the dial opening, which allows one to entirely focus on the essential time reading at any given time. The dimension of the timepiece stays true to military watches of yesteryears, which enables one to feel its sturdiness and with all sense of purpose, to be out in the field. Besides, one can picture the US Marines strapping one of these on and blends well with their desert cammies.

Based on the GG-W-113 specifications since 1960s

Moving to the case profile, The GPM Mechanical has from a sleek and a sense of masculine attractiveness to it, to its unique outdoorsy color choice that you do not see much in the market. When the watch viewed from the top, it lets off only as a no-frill compact tool watch, only to be complemented by its short lugs and smooth bezel. However, when one views it from the sides, it is where it shines with its unique case profile, with the lugs streamline together as a whole with its masculine side profile. This results in a striking balanced profile, letting the wearer feel substantial while compensating for its ickle 34mm tonneau case.

The case only gets a breakthrough from its symmetry by its protruded sand-blasted push-pull crown for easy manipulation. Its L-shaped lugs are flushed together with the overall case, and further features the drilled lug holes to allow easy strap change. Flipping it over, we get the case-back, allowing it to withstand 30m water-resistant that satisfy military-specifications. Right on the case-back, we get the essential government markings and specifications engraved. These provide credentials on the GPM Mechanical as manufactured following US Government specification. All that said, we assure it is safe to say that both us watch collectors and the US military for use in operations.

Tritium gas tubes and MaraGlow™ that glows 24 hours

As you’d expect in a military-style watch, the dial needs all the right ingredients to live up its livery. Underneath its flat sapphire crystal, Marathon has applied tritium gas tubes with MaraGlo™, a total of 14 encapsulated tritiums (Isotope H3) on its hour markers and syringe-style handset, allowing one to view the time with maximum legibility even when you are in the dark for more than 24 hours. The result is a constant emission of light. No more charging them by external light sources like conventional SuperLuminova. The dial features Arabic hour markers right beneath the tritium tubes, only to flange further a set of 24-hour markers reading inside. Lastly, only essentials wordings are on board, having the “Marathon” logo at the top and stays sterile at the bottom half. The dial gets additional markings with the “H3, hazard emblem” to indicate the tritium gas usage. All this information on the GPM Reissue is easy to determine, even at a glance. The dial of Marathon’s GPM Mechanical is a direct re-make of its MIL-W-46374, saving from the use of the new applied tritium gas tubes.

Inside, its heart keeps the epoch of Marathon’s field watch criteria. Right inside the Marathon GPM NGM Mechanical sports, the robust Japanese Seiko Instrument automatic caliber NH35. These 24 jewels, the dual-wind movement, operates at 3Hz (21,600bph), with autonomy that holds 41-hour power-reserve. The Government approved mechanical movement is durable enough to be a decent workhorse in proper military tool watch. Marathon refers to the movement as “dual-wind.” The use of this movement shows that Marathon emphasizes accuracy under all conditions, just like they did in the 80s.

Manufactured in accordance to US Government MIL-PRF-46374G

Attached to the GPM Reissue is a 16mm high-quality brown nylon textile strap. It further allows one to strap on the field watch like it supposed to, feeling sturdy and waterproof if it gets wet. The nylon strap matches with the adventure theme, elevating its sportiness and ruggedness as a whole.

In all, Marathon products are manufactured with the utmost care and go through various quality control measures. This attention to quality presented in the Marathon GPM NGM Desert Tan Mechanical Ref. WW194003DT-NGM, combining military toughness with refined craftsmanship from their military watches of yesteryears. The world of military-style tool watches ever populated in the industry, where consumers have the options to choose from. Still, not all have the right to get approved by the US Government until today and able to stand out with its unique design that not seen on the market. The GPM Mechanical stands out from the rest in this way since day one, and besides that, their watches always built with a purpose in every aspect that offers startling value for money for us watch collectors.