A white dial and a date window make a surprisingly practical pair. The Marathon Arctic SSNAV-D, reference WW194013SS-0501, puts both on the 41mm Steel Navigator, fitted with an 11-inch black ballistic nylon strap.

On the Arctic dial, the date at 4:30 is especially easy to pick out: dark numerals on a bright ground read quickly even in strong sunlight, which is exactly the condition this dial was designed for. Marathon's Arctic versions use white faces for legibility in bright or snowy environments, while tritium gas tubes on the hands and markers take over at night. The dial has no government markings, keeping the face crisp and clean.

The rest of the watch is Steel Navigator through and through. A 316L stainless steel case only 11mm thick, a screw-down crown sealing it to 10 ATM, a sapphire crystal, and a bi-directional 12-hour bezel with 90 clicks for keeping tabs on a second time zone. The movement is the Swiss ETA F06.412 PreciDrive, thermocompensated for accuracy of about ten seconds per year. The design lineage reaches back to 1986 and the Navigator Marathon built with Kelly Air Force Base. The one-piece ballistic nylon strap, made to MIL-S-46383B, runs under the case for extra security.

Arctic SSNAV-D WW194013SS-0501 at a Glance

• Reference: WW194013SS-0501
• Case: 41mm, 316L steel, 11mm
• Movement: ETA F06.412 PreciDrive Swiss quartz
• Water resistance: 10 ATM, screw-down crown
• Crystal: sapphire
• Bezel: bi-directional 12-hour, 90 clicks
• Dial: Arctic white, NGM, date at 4:30
• Lume: tritium gas tubes
• Strap: 11" black ballistic nylon, 20mm lug width

Bright, legible and accurate, with the date right where you expect it.