This Battle-Tested Military Dive Watch Is Returning to Its Origins

The original SAR diver that started it all for Marathon is back, with some improvements.

Published October 2, 2024

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A lot of watch brands have models that cosplay as military watches. Marathon, by contrast, actually produces watches for militaries around the world and its watches constantly see combat.

Each of the brand’s three model ranges — its General Purpose field watches, its Navigator pilot’s watches and its Search and Rescue (SAR) dive watches — ranks as legendary within its respective category, but the SAR arguably stands above the rest.

Available in various quartz and automatic configurations across three sizes — 36, 41 and 46mm — the “SAR” diver is recognizable for its busy, field watch-like layout and its use of tritium gas tube lume that requires no charging.

But Marathon’s latest addition to the SAR line doesn’t look anything like any of the brand’s other divers. Instead, it has a more traditional dive watch look that’s more reminiscent of Seiko or even vintage Rolex. In actuality, though, it may be the most authentic Marathon dive watch of all.

Marathon 41mm OSAR-D

$1,680 at Marathon

Back to Basics

The new Marathon diver is the 41mm OSAR-D. As usual, in Marathon parlance, “SAR” stands for “Search And Rescue,” while the “D” stands for “Date.” The “O” is perhaps the most interesting part of the new model’s acronymous name, as it represents “Original.”

The watch is “Original” because it’s a remake of the very first SAR dive watch that Marathon produced in the early 2000s, which was issued to Canadian Search and Rescue technicians.

Marathon dive watch on some old wood — Although the OSAR-D doesn’t look like other Marathon SAR divers, its design is based on the very first Search and Rescue dive watch from the brand.

The new watch, like those original 41mm SAR models from two decades ago, has a classic mil-spec Type I dive watch dial and a cyclops date window at three o’clock. It’s a very different look from what we associate with Marathon today, but it absolutely has historical precedent within the brand.

And while the 41mm OSAR-D looks like a twenty-something-year-old dive watch, it’s a thoroughly modern mil-spec instrument that’s full of upgrades over to the original.

For one, the lume is greatly improved, with larger maxi-style indices covered with gobs of MaraGlo, Marathon’s proprietary tritium-free luminescent paint that glows with intense brightness and was not yet invented when the original SAR debuted.

The cyclops has also been redesigned to offer a clearer view of the date with 1.5x magnification, and the seconds hand noew features a bolder red tip that’s a bit easier to track.

The 316L case, three-link bracelet and unidirectional bezel with black aluminum insert all remain largely the same, and the 300m water resistance rating is unchanged. The movement is different, though not necessarily better.

The 2000s diver was powered by an ETA 2824 automatic calibre, but with ETA no longer supplying its movements to brands outside of the Swatch Group corporate family tree, the new 41mm OSAR-D instead runs on the Sellita SW200-1, which is a Swiss-made clone of the 2824 offering comparable performance. The movement is also equipped with an Incabloc shock absorber.

Pricing and Availability

Marathon’s new 41mm OSAR-D is available now from the brand in two configurations.

One a black rubber strap, the watch retails for $1,380. If you get it on the stainless steel bracelet, it’s $1,680. An additional perk of getting the bracelet is you can then customize the logo on your clasp, opting for either the Marathon logo or one of several military logos, including those of the U.S. Marine Corps, Canadian Armed Forces or IDF Duvdevan.

If you want to stay true to the 2000s SAR, though, I recommend going with the classic Canadian maple leaf logo that appeared on the clasps of those original Search and Rescue divers.