Like the now-ubiquitous diver and pilot styles, the mil-spec field watch is experiencing a moment in the sun. The appeal is easy to understand: much like how the original Willy’s Jeep took to post-war civilian life by offering cheap, rugged, and reliable transportation, the military-styled field watch offers significant toughness while keeping functionality simple and usable for everyday telling. Put simply, it’s a romantic promise of adventure and bravado, scaled down to wristsize. Canadian watchmaker Marathon has been making mil-spec timepieces since WWII, and has offered tactical variants like the 41mm Anthracite GSAR for those looking for that covert ops image; the new 46mm Anthracite Jumbo Day/Date, and the 36mm Anthracite MSAR Auto straddle that original model in the Anthracite lineup, and offer further complications for the enthusiast audience.
The two new models in the Anthracite Search and Rescue (SAR) Unit borrow heavily from their 41mm predecessor in both styling and construction. Both feature a 316L stainless steel case with titular Anthracite finish, a uni-directional bezel, a screw-down crown, and tritium gas tube and MaraGlo luminous numerals, hands, and markers. Visually, the watches look very similar; Marathon’s legible and surprisingly un-aggressive typefaces keep the white numerals crisp and clear against the black dial. The overall styling is complicated but not visually distracting, an important aesthetic facet for a field watch.
On the 46mm model, size is the first obvious difference, but along with that extra 10mm in diameter, it adds an inner bezel ring and the day-date display, which sits at 3 o’clock. Of course, being a proper field-style dive watch and bearing that GSAR designation, it also sports 300 meters of water resistance and a decent 41-hour power reserve. Inside, a Sellita SW220 self-winding automatic movement should prove robust and reliable, and it comes with Marathon’s Incabloc shock absorber for extra impact protection.
Though smaller on the wrist, the 36mm MSAR Auto is nothing to be sneezed at. It bears the same 300 meters of water resistance and Incabloc shock protection as its larger sibling, just scaled down to a more field watch-appropriate size. It also tucks the smaller date display at the 4:30 position, and does away with the day function. This simplifies the bezel and allows for the smaller scale to maintain a sense of purpose and presence without feeling overcrowded. I think that the look of the 36mm design is cleaner and more stealth-adjacent, but I have a smaller wrist myself, so it could be unconscious bias. The 36mm MSAR Auto is also powered by a Sellita self-winding automatic movement, this one being the SW200-1.
Though the SAR collection is a blend of dive and field watch sensibilities, it wears its field styling on its proverbial sleeve, much to the benefit of the covert aesthetics that Marathon is seemingly going for. Even at 46mm, the GSAR does away with the flashiness of a traditional diver and replaces it with a stealth-inspired finish. Still, my money is on the 36mm as the most handsome watch in the newly-expanded SAR Unit, and with its smaller size, it won’t hit any snags on your next secret mission—even if that mission is just going to the corner store for a sneaky midnight snack.
The Marathon Anthracite SAR Collection is available now, and until March 12th, 2026, each unit ships with a black two-piece leather strap. The 36mm MSAR Auto and 46mm GSAR JDD retail for $1,900 and $3,250 respectively. Marathon
Elodie Townsend
2026-03-05 15:00:00