Marathon has been making military watches since 1941, and the Navigator has served U.S. aviators since 1986. The Marathon SSNAV Auto, reference WW194029SS-0803-KIT, brings that history into the present with a self-winding Swiss movement, a sterile black dial and a DefStan nylon strap.

The Navigator began as a collaboration with Kelly Air Force Base to create a pilot's watch for the U.S. Air Force, and its formula has proven remarkably durable: a highly legible dial, self-powered tritium illumination and a bi-directional 12-hour bezel for tracking a second time zone. The stainless steel version returned in 2023 after decades away, and the SSNAV Auto takes the next step with a Sellita SW200-1 automatic calibre, 26 jewels and around 41 hours of power reserve.

Marathon, a family-owned company founded in 1904, designs its watches in Canada and assembles them in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. That pedigree shows in the details here: a 41mm 316L case only 11.5mm thick, a screw-down crown and 10 ATM water resistance, and a sapphire crystal over the sterile Type II dial, which carries no government or unit insignia. The black DefStan nylon strap is fitted with Parkerized hardware, finishing the watch with a quiet, issued look.

Marathon Steel Navigator Automatic WW194029SS-0803-KIT

• Reference: WW194029SS-0803-KIT
• Model: SSNAV Auto, sterile, no date
• Case: 41mm, 316L stainless steel, 11.5mm thick
• Movement: SW200-1 automatic by Sellita, 26 jewels
• Water resistance: 10 ATM, screw-down crown
• Crystal: sapphire
• Bezel: 12-hour bi-directional
• Lume: tritium gas tubes on hands and markers
• Strap: black DefStan nylon, Parkerized hardware, 20mm lug width

Decades of service history, carried forward with an automatic movement.