Is this watch too small or will it be a case of David vs Goliath?

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Many of you would be familiar with the story of David versus Goliath, in which a small, seemingly weak shepherd boy, defeats the hulking giant of Goliath with nothing but a slingshot and a single stone. Its a classic story, and one that everyone loves – the underdog rising to the occasion. It calls into question: does size truly matter?

Well, in the watch world, that’s definitely a yes.

The optimal watch size has been a hot topic of debate as far as I can remember, and there’s a great deal of subjectivity to it with fads coming and going. For a while, it seemed that larger watches dominated the scene, but sizes seem to be trending downwards now, to the joyous chorus of the small wrist club (of which I am a part of). Heck, Muhammad Ali rocked a Cartier Tank and he was a total badass.

That being said, despite not being overly caught up on case sizes, even I must admit that it’s difficult to look past certain dimensions. 40mm is workable; 38mm is somewhat the sweet spot and 36mm? I think I can get by. Going past 36mm is where it gets a bit trickier, and that’s exactly the conundrum I faced with the Marathon GPQ Sage Green 34mm.

Conceptually, the Marathon GPQ (General Purpose Quartz) sounded like a great idea; I had been looking for a fuss free piece – the kind I could just grab and go whenever, wherever; something that I wouldn’t need to worry too much banging about. Powered by a quartz module and manufactured in accordance to military specifications, the GPQ seemed like the perfect candidate for the job – except it comes in at 34mm.

Now most people I know would immediately raise an eyebrow at this, and naturally, their next question would be “Is it too small?”. While I knew intuitively I could probably pull it off, it was a question that I (and I’m sure many others) had too.

Well luckily for you (with some slight damage to my wallet), I now have that answer.

The Case & Specifications

True to Marathon’s measurements, the watch comes in with a case size of 34mm (37mm with the crown), thickness of 11.5mm and a lug width of 16mm. Lug to lug is about 38mm, but I find that with a strap L2L wears closer to 40mm. The crystal is made of sapphire, sitting proud of the case by roughly 2mm.

The case is made out of what Marathon describes as High Impact Composite Fibreshell, which I presume is some form of plastic. That being said, the case feels sufficiently robust and more so than other plastic watches, while keeping the watch very light and comfortable for wear. The case features a matte finish, and the overall aesthetic allows the watch to fly under the radar which is expected of a milspec watch. Its supposed to be sage green in colour, but to me its barely noticeable unless you go up close to the watch, and at first glance I would have described it as matte grey.

Contrary to its actual weight and wearing experience, the GPQ looks visually chunky, almost as if someone took a giant block of material and carved a watch case out of it. Push-pull crown is found at 3 o’ clock without any crown guards; I would have preferred a screwdown crown.

One thing I don’t particularly enjoy about the GPQ is that it uses fixed lugs, which means that you’re limited in terms of strap options. Adding on to that challenge is the 16mm lug width, which is a lesser seen lug width in these modern times and I doubt that you’d have a spare 16mm NATO lying around.

A snap on caseback with a battery hatch gives the watch 30m of water resistance, which isn’t much in today’s context. The caseback, like the case, features a brushed finish along with a bunch of specifications. There’s not much to see here, and the focus is evidently on utility.

Taking a step back, I found that the GPQ exhibits a much stronger visual presence than its specifications would suggest. I attribute it to the lack of a bezel along with the proportion of the lugs against the rest of the case, which makes the dial look larger than what it really is.

The Dial

A quick glance at the GPQ will tell you that it means business. The dial comes in your standard no-nonsense field watch layout, with numerals 1-12 printed on the outside and 24HR time printed in smaller font on the inside. Above 6 o’clock, the words “U.S. GOVERNMENT” are printed, calling out to Marathon’s long standing status as the United States Armed Forces’ watch supplier. You can also opt for a sterile dial version or what Marathon refers to as “Standard Issue”, where the text “MARATHON” and “U.S. GOVERNMENT” are removed.

To be honest, there’s not much to be said about the dial given its requirement to conform with established milspec standards. The star of the show however, is in the little tubes that have been applied above each hour marker. Each one of these vials is actually a Tritium Gas Tube which is able to emit light without the need for being “charged”, as compared to luminescent materials such as Super LumiNova. This means that you will always be able to maintain legibility of the dial, even after hours have passed into the night.

The 12 o’clock index has been differentiated from the others with an orange tube, while the others are green in colour. The gas tubes can also be found on the syringe style hour and minute hands, which are easy to read. The lollipop-arrow tipped seconds hand however is not lumed.

Marathon isn’t the only one that makes use of this technology; brands like Ball and Luminox use it as well. Having never seen one in person before, I was quite excited to see it for myself and was under the impression that the tubes would be glowing brightly – at least that’s what the photos show. Strangely however, I found that the glow of the GPQ was much dimmer than the regular lume on my other watches (using Super Luminova / Seiko Lumi Brite), and really only shone through (pun intended) when it was entirely dark in my room. You can barely see the glowing tubes of the hour indices in the picture I took above. Being able to emit its own light however, did give it the benefit of outlasting the lume on all my other watches and the GPQ does continue to remain readable.

I typically find that such field watches have less sense of visual depth owing to the black dial and printed indices, which gives it a “flat” look. For the GPQ however, the dial sits rather deeply in the case, and the hands are raised higher than in other watches so that they can move over the tritium tubes unimpeded, which helps in that regard.

The Movement

The GPQ utilises an ETA High-Torque FØ6 quartz movement, which is accurate to -0.3/+05 seconds a day. The movement hacks and also comes with an end-of-life indicator, where the second hand will advance in 4 second increments when the battery requires replacement.

Essentially, its a watch that you set and forget, great if you’re looking for something that is fuss free.

I’m not sure if its just me, but it seems that the movement has a second position for adjusting a date wheel. A quick search online shows that there are versions of the F06 that come with a date set function. When rotating it counterclockwise, I hear a click. Perhaps a ghost position?

The Strap

With the fixed lugs, you’re hard pressed for options and you’ll probably keep it on the stock strap, which is of pretty good quality. It feels durable and strong, and I think it’ll last. The strap is in between an olive green and a khaki brown, and complements the case well. When buying the watch, you can opt for the Nylon DEFSTAN (defence standard) or the Ballistic Nylon (pictured here).

2 things bug me though; the first being that the strap isn’t that flexible out of box and probably needs some wear to soften up. The result is I get a strange overhang I don’t normally experience with nylon straps, which you really wouldn’t expect given the compact case size of the watch. The second gripe is that the strap only comes with one fixed keeper, and I end up with quite a bit of excess strap just hanging about. On larger wrists, this probably wouldn’t be a problem.

Styling

On wrist, I think the GPQ sage green looks great. It has a very tool-ish look, and goes great with casual outfits. Despite being labelled as “sage green”, the case appears more grey in colour and the subtle green tones only appear at the correct angles. Its small and discreet, yet stands out in an iykyk manner.

The Price

On the Marathon website, the GPQ goes for USD$300 (SGD$ 408) with the ballistic nylon, and USD$340 (SGD$463) with the nylon DEFSTAN. Prices in Singapore are also around there, and I don’t think these normally go on discount though you could get lucky.

The watch comes in a little sliding tin reminiscent of pencil cases I used to play with in primary school in the early 2000s, and you get 2 years of warranty.

Personally, I find the price point for these to be just a tad tricky. Its not the cheapest, nor is it particularly pricey. While the GPQ is undoubtedly well built, you do need to accept certain tradeoffs like the 30m of water resistance and the fixed lugs which limit strap options. At this price, you can find other options, and if you needed something of a daily beater a G-Shock probably out-specs this at a lower price point. On the other hand, if you increase your budget slightly, more options start to open up too. Field watch alternatives such as the Seiko 5s and Hamilton Khakis also come to mind.

That being said, it has actual military provenance and stays true to actual military specification, something not all brands can lay claim to. If that’s your thing, I would say that you can be assured of the quality and will enjoy the watch as it is; holding it in my hands I can say that it is well made. Besides, if its good enough for the military, its probably good enough for most people anyway.

Overall Thoughts

The field watch was birthed out of necessity on the battlefields, and its no wonder that utility is the name of its game. There’s no need for fancy gems, or shiny finishes – it’s all about delivering what you need, when you need it. The Marathon GPQ continues to be an accurate distillation of that spirit. It’s reliable, its robust and does everything you need. You don’t have to worry about accidentally scratching it or dropping it; it’s meant to take a beating and just keep going. Set it, forget it and get out there to live life.

Is it too small? Maybe if you have a really large wrist. For the most part, it’ll look and wear just fine, with its blocky case and proportions making it look visually larger than it really is. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re one of those that firmly believe in “form follows function”, then this one is definitely worth a closer look.

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