Military tool watches are very difficult to produce because they need the perfect balance of utility, durability, practicality, and precision. As such, any significant upgrades in any of those areas are always welcome improvements. Case in point, the new Marathon Watches 41mm Titanium GSAR (Government Search and Rescue), which introduces the military tool watch specialist’s first titanium case on a production watch as well as an upgraded movement.
The new case measures 41mm in diameter with a thickness of 13.5mm and a water resistance rating of 300m. It features a brushed finish across all its surfaces, which makes sense on a military watch to dull any reflections compared to a flashy polishing. The crown at 3 o’clock uses a hobnail grip and is significantly oversized for ease of use in adverse conditions.
Being produced from Grade 5 titanium means that it is 30% lighter than an equivalent steel watch. This is because of titanium’s exception strength-to-density ratio that means it can achieve similar levels of strength and utility while weighing less. When you’re in the field all day, any weight reduction is more valuable than gold in terms of comfort and convenience. Marathon has used titanium previously but only on limited editions, making this their first permanent production model in titanium.
Titanium is also used for the 120-click dive timer bezel. The unidirectional rotation means that if you are calculating your immersion time and the bezel is accidentally knocked out of position, you can only ever overestimate how long you have been underwater, encouraging you to return to the surface early rather than disastrously late.
Alongside the new titanium case, the Marathon 41mm Titanium GSAR features a handful of updates to the dial compared to the steel GSAR. The most apparent change is that the date wheel between 4 and 5 o’clock has had its colours inverted to white on black, blending into the rest of the display better without compromising the legibility of the function.
Second, the typography of the letters and numerals across whole display has been updated with a bolder, squarer font that feel more utilitarian – it’s particularly noticeable on numbers like 8 which was previously two circles stacked and is now more like two squares stacked. A purely aesthetic change is the alteration to the Automatic inscription below the central handstack, where the Ti is now picked out in red as a reference to the new titanium construction. Completing the display are tritium gas tubes on the hands and hour markers, providing consistent readability in low light conditions.
Housed inside the Marathon 41mm Titanium GSAR is the Sellita SW200-2 Top Grade with 65-hour power reserve. That’s a significant upgrade over the steel model’s 41-hour SW200-1, which means you can keep the watch stored in your pack for a couple of days before it will need resetting when you strap it on again. And when you do strap it on, it’s with a comfortable black rubber strap with titanium pin buckle.
It’s priced at £2,475, which is an increase of £775 compared to the steel model at £1,700. That increase seems like a lot at first for a tool watch designed to get bashed around, but it makes sense when you consider the upgrades to the case material, dial features, and movement. It really is an improvement to the whole package including those all-important metrics of utility, durability, practicality, and precision.
Price and Specs:
More details at Marathon.
