There are watches that I’d like to own and then there are my grail watches. Watches I’ve always wanted but wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford. One of the divers on my grail list was the Marathon Jumbo Search and Rescue or commonly known as the JSAR. The manufacturer’s designation is LGP (Le Grand Plongeur).
This past week I was fortunate to acquire a Maple Leaf JSAR in mint condition for a couple of hundred dollars under its typical street value. The Maple Leaf is a limited edition of the JSAR with the red Canadian maple leaf appliqué featured on the dial. Only 1,000 were made and each has its number engraved on the back of the case. It was simply a deal I couldn’t pass up.
Marathon Maple Leaf JSAR
Since this was one of my grails, I had done extensive internet research (drooling) on/over the watch. I found some misconceptions out there about the JSAR. For instance….
“The JSAR is too huge for daily wear”.
This is the common thing I hear about the watch. Here is the JSAR alongside some of the other watches in my collection…
Left to Right: Marathon JSAR, Casio G-Shock GD100-1B, Luminox 3051 Colormark, Seiko SKX007K
As you can see, the JSAR doesn’t dwarf any of my other divers. In fact, it’s smaller than the G-Shock, which is one I wear the most due to its durability.
Casio G-shock GD100-1B and the Marathon JSAR
Some mention the “height/thickness of the crown”. I’ll give them that. At 17 mm, it is a beast and not every sleeve friendly. Here is another comparison shot.
Again, the G-shock and JSAR are roughly about the same (the Casio is .4 mm thicker). The Luminox Colormark is 3 mm thinner…
And the Seiko case is 4 mm thinner…
So there is a significant difference. Enough to be noticeable. Like the G-Shock, I probably won’t wear the Marathon under most of my dress shirts. I’ll chose the Seiko or one of my other dress watches for business wear.
Here is a shot of the Marathon JSAR on my 7.5″ wrist. At 46mm, it’s big enough to get noticed but doesn’t look cartoonish.
The only complaint that I read, which for me ended up being spot-on, was the length of the rubber dive strap. It’s too short for larger wrists. I needed one more notch for it to be truly comfortable.
I’m probably replace it with an Isofrane dive strap at some point in the near future.
Overall, I’m loving my purchase. The Marathon JSAR has a heft to it that I really like. The Superluminova C3 hands and dial markers glow brightly for hours after being charged a relatively short period of time. And since its built to ISO 6425 standards, features the reliable ETA F06 movement, water resistant down to 30 ATM – 300 meters (1000 feet), and made from a single block of 316L surgical grade stainless steel, it should be a watch that I can count on for decades.
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