1988 Marathon "Model 348" Quartz
This watch was a real mystery to me. It has a quartz movement. The body is like the "lost Marathon" illustrated here, but it has a big rubber plug in it and no small aluminum plug to allow the movement's crown and stem to be removed. The battery access hole looks to be a machined part of the body, i.e. as-manufactured.
The dial is identical to an early Gallet steel Navigator model 211, as are the badly lumed hands. The lume om the hour markers is also poorly applied and some is missing.
Back bears military marks which, although seemingly correct, are poorly embossed. As far as I can make out, they read:
- WATCH, WRIST, GENERAL PURP.
- MIL-W-46374D GALLET
- 6645-00-952-3767 348
- W84647 EH02/01 DA 8
- SEPT 88
The markings are higher and abbreviated, presumably because of the rubber plug, and the required "DISPOSE RAD WASTE" is missing. It is obvious from the above view that the case was not made for this particular quartz movement, which is a Harley-Ronda 373 with the battery opposite the crown. To compound the mystery, the stock and model numbers on the third line denote a Marathon field watch with a mechanical movement.
The crown is too shiny for a military watch and the springbars really should be either solid, or slide-thru wires like the Stocker and Yale plastic body military watches.
The movement is a Harley-Ronda 373 1-jewel, same as the early Gallet steel Navigator. Being opposite the stem, the battery is 90 degs off from the battery hatch.
The watch is 34mm wide (excluding the crown), 40mm tall, 12mm thick (excluding the rubber plug), lug spacing 16mm.
|