As a reader of this site, I presume you are a horological nerd, like me. I also presume, then, that you have at least a passing familiarity with Marathon Watch. The company has roots dating to World War II, when they began provisioning Allied Forces with timepieces that could stand up to the demands and environmental challenges of military service. Since their inception, they’ve focused exclusively, to my humble knowledge, on the production of tool watches. As this isn’t a paid advertisement, we’ll conclude the brand overview there, and turn to the subject of this review: the quartz stainless steel version of the ever-popular Marathon Navigator, commonly referred to as the SSNAV.
The general format of the Navigator is familiar to multiple brands. You can see a lot of aesthetic commonalities with the Benrus Type II, which also was produced to the same general military specification as the Navigator. Marathon has been in the business of producing the Navigator since the 80s and has churned out fiber-cased versions for military and civilian use for several years. While I have long found the Navigator an attractive and intriguing watch, I remained skeptical of the robustness of the fiber-cased versions, perhaps unfairly so. Call it a critique of my non-pampering approach to watch-wearing more than an objective conclusion from experience. Regardless of the accuracy of my skepticism, the Navigator remained more of a casual curiosity to me until 2023, when Marathon released a steel-cased version.
While there have been steel Navigators before, it has been decades since they were produced. For this newest iteration, Marathon kept the trim dimensions from the fiber-cased version (41mm x 48mm x 11mm) while upgrading the water resistance and case material. Working alongside those tidy dimensions, the case design, with its shallow, long-arcing midcase, keeps the watch close to your wrist, affording exceptional comfort. The asymmetrical arc of the crown-side of the midcase provides protection for the screw-in crown while maintaining a graceful case shape. The casework is a masterclass in industrial design.
The bi-directional bezel that sits atop the midcase rotates through 90 thunky clicks, enabling the tracking of multiple timezones, and 60-minute intervals. The bezel insert is a matte-finished aluminum (or so I presume, as I didn’t find specifics on this from Marathon) with a crisply-printed 12-hour scale, supplemented by a detailed 20-minute scale between the pip and 4-hour marker. The pip itself is filled with a tritium tube, like the dial and hands. On my particular model, the bezel alignment was about a half-click off-center. It is a nearly imperceptible issue that I’ve been able to look past with ease, but I mention it here to absolve Seiko of being the sole target for criticism over quality control.
The dial of the SSNAV comes in two variations, excluding special editions. One includes a date that, to my eye, is unattractively punched into the dial, and the other is the no-date version I had for review. I do wish that the no-date version included the red-tipped seconds hand from the date version, but perhaps Marathon includes that color pop as a consolation prize for having to stare at the date window. Though the dial is fairly busy, it maintains strong legibility. Working from the outside in, you have a minute track that includes tritium tubes at the hour positions; a printed, non-luminous 12-hour Arabic numeral scale; a smaller set of Arabic numerals to track hours 13-24; and two icons on either side of the pinion, both of which indicate the presence of radioactive material. The tracking of these scales is handled by syringe-style hour and minute hands, each of which carries a tritium tube, and an arrow-style seconds hand that does not.
If you have experience with tritium lume in watches, you’ll know the tradeoff. You get weaker luminosity as compared to Super-LumiNova and similar materials but a constant glow that is likely to last longer in terms of years of luminescence. I can’t confirm the latter from personal experience, but found the ever-present glow of the tritium sufficient for my civilian needs. Presumably, this weaker luminosity has military benefits as well, in that it is less likely to telegraph your position when under the cover of darkness.
In the SSNAV, Marathon utilizes the ETA F06.412, which is one of the components that interests me most. Why so? First, the choice of a quartz movement complements the comfort of the case design. I’ve worn automatic versions of similar Type I & II watches, and they all wear far heavier, and less comfortably. Some of this is due to larger case sizing, but the quartz movement also helps to shed a noticeable bit of weight.
Any quartz movement could aid with lightness, so why my curiosity about the F06 in the SSNAV? Well, it isn’t your standard entry-level movement, but it has a bevy of tricks that help with time-keeping accuracy in a variety of conditions and with the Navigator’s ability to withstand some abuse. Regarding accuracy, the F06 has a claimed accuracy of ± 10s/year, way more accurate than any mechanical or entry-level quartz movements. That accuracy is also maintained across a wider temperature band thanks to PreciDrive thermo-compensation tech. Presumably, this feature was intended to support the hardships of military use, but it also served me well in more mundane civilian life. I wore the watch during a trip to Florida that coincided with a heat wave strong enough to cause immediate eyeglass fogging upon exiting a building. While my supposedly anti-fog lenses couldn’t handle the conditions, the SSNAV continued to keep excellent time. Mark another point for watches as superior investments.
The F06 is also equipped with a shock-detection system that helps to offset impacts on the watch. Anyone who has smashed their wrist and watch on something and felt an immediate gut-dropping sense of dread can feel secure that the SSNAV can weather a hit and keep on ticking. The high-torque capacity also helps the seconds hand hit the majority of its marks, a superficial but appreciated result.
I don’t have much to say about the strap options for the SSNAV. The watch is available from Marathon on a variety of fabric and rubber straps, with the ballistic nylon option I had serving as the entry-level offering. My suggestion: get the cheapest available option, and have fun with aftermarket straps. I’m deeply fond of how the SSNAV appears on a ribbed NATO-style strap, but I’ve seen a multitude of excellent pairings online.
Beyond the substance of the watch, I’ve seen online criticism about the price of the SSNAV, which starts at $770 US. In our inflation-ridden times, prices are constantly shocking, but in this case, I see certain value-adds Marathon has provided in the SSNAV, particularly the movement, that warrant an elevation in price over more entry-level quartz watches. Though unquantifiable, there’s also a bit of an unofficial “mil-spec tax” here, as you are getting a watch with brand provenance, something made for the military, and offered to civilians. The certification of this is shown on the caseback text, located just below the battery hatch door. While I think the Marathon SSNAV would be an excellent value if under $500, it is unreasonable to expect such pricing at this point. If you find the SSNAV attractive and appreciate its technical capabilities, I doubt you’ll be disappointed as a buyer. Also, keep an eye out for sales, which Marathon and its dealers run with some frequency.
Though it is a relatively sober watch, I quickly fell in love with the SSNAV. Aesthetically, it adds some structural grace to what could have been a brutalist design and, in so doing, makes for a top-grade wearing experience. There’s room for stylistic improvements – add the red-tipped seconds hand to all models, and improve upon the date window integration – but the SSNAV remains an excellent tool watch despite those critiques. The same qualities that make the SSNAV good for military use – robustness, lightness, and no-fuss timekeeping – also made it an excellent everyday and vacation watch. There’s a good case to be made that the SSNAV is a contender for the mythical one-watch collection, and while I doubt I’ll ever achieve such minimalism, I cannot argue with the SSNAV’s merits.
Check out the Marathon Steel Navigator SSNAV’s dedicated page for more info, and buying options.
