In 1986, U.S. Air Force pilots needed a watch they could trust at altitude, and Marathon worked with Kelly Air Force Base to build one. The Marathon SSNAV WW194001SS-0802 is the modern steel expression of that original Pilot's Navigator, here with a sterile black dial on an 11-inch DefStan nylon strap.

The original brief shaped every part of this watch. A bi-directional 12-hour bezel lets a navigator keep a second time zone in view without doing mental arithmetic. Tritium gas tubes make the hands and markers visible in a blacked-out cockpit with no need to charge them first. A sapphire crystal resists the scratches that come with daily use. The Steel Navigator vanished from the catalog for decades before returning in 2023, and its modern form upgrades the formula with 316L stainless steel, a screw-down crown and 10 ATM of water resistance, all in a case only 11mm thick.

Timekeeping is courtesy of the ETA F06.412 PreciDrive, a Swiss thermocompensated quartz movement that holds to about ten seconds per year. The sterile dial carries no government or unit insignia. The black DefStan nylon strap with Parkerized hardware gives the watch an issued look that suits its background.

Marathon Steel Navigator WW194001SS-0802 in Detail

• Reference: WW194001SS-0802
• Case: 41mm in 316L stainless steel, 11mm, 20mm lugs
• Movement: ETA F06.412 PreciDrive Swiss quartz, thermocompensated
• Water resistance: 10 ATM
• Crystal and crown: sapphire; screw-down crown
• Bezel: bi-directional 12-hour, 90 clicks
• Lume: tritium
• Dial: black, sterile, no date
• Strap: 11" DefStan nylon, Parkerized hardware

Born from an Air Force requirement and refined for everyday wear.