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.
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Marathon JDD NGM Diver Automatic 46mm - Rubber Ref. WW194021SS-0130
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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 the Marathon Search and Rescue Jumbo Diver Automatic -JDD 46mm NGM Diver Automatic - Rubber Ref. WW194021 that we are going to introduce today.
The acronym “JDD” stands for “Jumbo Day Date”- which effectively reflects the big 46mm case size with a day and date display. Besides, the JDD NGM Diver Auto is apart if the “Search and Rescue” line, appropriate for military personnel in different branches and jobs get offered these officially issued watches. Since this specific model built to be taken mostly under the sea, it fits appropriately for the Navy branch all round. The JDD 46mm NGM Diver Automatic 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 (GSAR Government Standard) with its sterile dial; the “NGM” acronyms affirm the “No Government Markings” on its dial.
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Made in Switzeland, Approved by US Government
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The JDD 46mm NGM Diver Automatic starts with its 316L stainless steel case that measures 46mm wide, with a height of 18mm thick and 54mm lug to lug. Further, the finishing of the case gets a full satin-brushed polishing, removing any source of inessential reflections in this case, while still being immaculately executed. The 120-clicks bezel gets expansive grooves that allow one to rotate it uni-directionally in almost any conditions, especially when your hands get wet. The engraved black anodized bezel stays true to military format, having it in a 60-minute format, with a luminous triangle pip at 12 o’clock. The dimension of the timepiece allows one to feel its sturdiness and being built with all sense of purpose, to be out in the field.
Moving to the side profile, we get beefy squared crown guards that flange the nailed-textured screw-down crown for easy manipulation. Flipping it over, we get the screw-in case-back, allowing it to withstand 300m water-resistant. Right on the case-back, we get the essential government markings and specifications engraved. These provide credentials on the JDD Diver Auto 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 on the land and water.
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Full satin-brushed finishing throughout its 46mm case
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While the 40mm wide Marathon GSAR seems to be the perfect size, the Jumbo is its “Big Boy” incarnation. The 46mm-wide and nearly 18mm-thick brushed stainless steel case feels ever-more sturdy due to its sheer proportion - all that leading to a truer sense of what does it mean by a “professional dive watch”. The JDD NGM Diver Auto elevates with a stronger identity, with more wrist presence for its wearer, and we bet many of us appreciates its kind.
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 15 encapsulated tritiums (Isotope H3) on its hour markers and syringe-style handset. Even the second-hand gets its one at the tip, 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. The day-date is placed at 3 position so as not to disrupt the placement of the tritium gas tubes. Lastly, only essentials wordings are onboard, like having just the “Marathon” logo at the top and “Automatic, 300m/ 1000ft (in red)” at the bottom lending to have a cleaner look relatively. The dial gets additional markings with the “H3, hazard emblem” to indicate the tritium gas usage. All this information on the JDD Diver is easy to determine even at a glance.
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Tritium gas tubes and MaraGlow™ that glows 24 hours
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Inside its heart lies the traditional Swiss ETA 2836-2 automatic mechanical movement, which operates at 4Hz (28,800bph) and a power reserve of around 42 hours. The use of this movement gets a day-date display whereby the day allows to be set in English or French language. The use of the Swiss ETA movement shows that Marathon emphasizes accuracy under all conditions.
Attached to the JDD NGM Diver Auto is the new 22mm high quality black vulcanized rubber with "Marathon" pattern on the inside. Manufactured in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the rubber strap is crafted from FKM Rubber, meeting the requirements of high-performance military applications. The satin-finished buckle has different facets and well machined with a sharp look. Paired on this premium rubber strap, it matches with the adventure theme, elevating its sportiness and ruggedness as a whole.
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Manufactured in accordance to US Government NSN 6645-21-886-8975
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In all, Marathon products are manufactured with the utmost care and go through various quality control measures. This attention to quality presented in the JDD 46mm NGM Diver Automatic - Rubber Ref. WW194021, combining military toughness with Swiss craftsmanship at a sizing that fits most wrist sizing. The world of military-style tool watches ever populated in the industry, where consumers have the options to choose from, but not all have the right to get approved by the US Government until today. The JDD Diver stands out from the rest in this way since day one, especially now with a full white dial- and besides, their watches built with a purpose in every aspect that offers startling value for money for us watch collectors. It is the kind of watch that when bought and worn the hell out of because that's what it is capable of.
