Shopping for a dad, a brother, a friend heading off to basic training or a partner who lives in hiking boots? Reference WW194015DT-0103, the Marathon General Purpose Quartz with Date in desert tan, is a 34mm Swiss quartz watch that looks great, glows in the dark and requires nothing of its owner but to wear it.

There is a lot to like for the recipient. The desert tan composite fibreshell case is light and comfortable, the black dial is clean with no government markings, and the date at 4:30 makes it genuinely useful day to day. Tritium tubes on the hands and markers provide continuous illumination for years with no charging, and the 12- and 24-hour scales give the dial an authentic military look.

Behind it all is Marathon, a family-owned watchmaker founded in 1904 that has supplied military watches since 1941, with timepieces assembled in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The GPQ-D runs on the Swiss ETA F06.115 HeavyDrive quartz movement with an end-of-life indicator, is built to MIL-PRF-46374G and is protected by sapphire crystal. A one-piece nylon strap finishes the watch, ready to wear out of the box.

WW194015DT-0103 Specifications

• Marathon GPQ-D, desert tan, no government markings
• 34mm composite fibreshell case, 11.5mm thick
• ETA F06.115 HeavyDrive Swiss quartz with end-of-life indicator
• Date at 4:30
• Water resistant to 3 ATM
• Sapphire crystal, pressure crown
• Tritium on markers and hands
• One-piece nylon strap, 16mm lug width

A gift that is easy to give and even easier to wear.