Creating the Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR

Insight into the Development Process Behind W.O.E.’s First Watch Collaboration 

*Limited to 200 pieces, the Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR will be available for semi-preorder starting at 1400 US EDT on Thursday, 24 September. Click HERE to learn more. NOTE: The watches are currently in production with a tentative delivery date of January 2027.*

At W.O.E., we are passionate about watches. Not just the mechanical or aesthetic attributes, but what watches represent. When we set out to create our first watch collaboration, the criteria were simple: we wanted to partner with a brand with strong ties to our community that still produces issued watches for military forces today. We wanted a Swiss-made automatic movement, and, to make it viable for as many members of the community as possible, we wanted something (relatively) affordable. The list of brands that meet these criteria is short, and Marathon is at the top. 

A year later, as we discuss the details of the Marathon x W.O.E. SAR openly for the first time, we acknowledge that it would have been a lot easier, and to some, more appealing, to print the W.O.E. spearhead insignia somewhere on a GSAR dial and call it a day. But we wanted to ensure our updates were both meaningful and functional. First and foremost, we opted for a grade 5 titanium case, something Marathon had never produced before, but an improvement we knew offered tangible benefits for the end user in the form of lighter weight and excellent corrosion resistance. 

For legibility and simplicity, we opted for a dial with applied indices framed in black and filled with MaraGlo, Marathon’s proprietary luminescent process. The movement is an upgraded Sellita SW200-2B, a non-date-specific variant with up to 65 hours of power reserve. Based on the original SAR watches developed for and issued to Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs) starting in 2001, the modern Titanium SAR is a capable tool packed with references to the intelligence community.

Honoring the Intelligence Community with a Capable Watch 

At W.O.E., everything we do is designed for an “if you know, you know” approach. Subtlety is at the core of our ethos, and so each of the nods to the intelligence community in our Marathon collaboration is equally low-key. Referencing the four-minute window used by intelligence officers during clandestine source meetings, the first four minutes on the Marathon x W.O.E. SAR are printed in red, with a small W.O.E. signature also printed in red at six. 

The W.O.E. Spearhead insignia, which traces its roots to the Office of Strategic Services that served as the precursor to CIA during the Second World War, is engraved on the caseback and the crown, along with a few other Easter eggs you can find yourself. It was really important that these were subtle, not visible to the casual passerby, but known to the wearer. 

Like all of our custom tools, the Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR is a watch we designed for ourselves first and foremost, an uncompromising take on one of the most proven modern military dive watch designs with an upgraded grade 5 titanium case and a robust Swiss automatic caliber with an enhanced power reserve. 

Marathon’s First Titanium Watch 

The biggest departure from the standard Marathon OSAR that we wanted for our watch was the case material. We are well-documented fans of titanium and believe that it is a near-perfect material for a tool dive watch.  When we reached out to Marathon, we made it clear that a titanium version of the SAR platform was the ultimate goal. It took some time and a few rounds of prototyping to get right, but the final product is truly excellent; a lighter-weight take on the proven Marathon SAR. 

Approximately 40% lighter than 316L stainless steel, grade 5 titanium is an alloy made of 90% titanium, 6% aluminum, and 4% vanadium. Grade 5 titanium also limits the visibility of wear and scratches over time due to a natural "self-healing" oxidation process. Responsibly sourced and compliant with all US Military and government requirements, Marathon’s grade 5 titanium is a durable and capable material for a timepiece designed to thrive in a maritime environment and beyond. 

The 120-click unidirectional timing bezel, W.O.E. Spearhead-engraved screw-down crown, and screw-down caseback are also executed in grade 5 titanium. Like the rest of Marathon’s SAR collection, the W.O.E. Titanium SAR is rated to 300 meters of water resistance and equipped with a flat sapphire crystal. 

For those who prefer the tritium tube-equipped GSAR and are interested in titanium, Marathon will be releasing a titanium version of the tritium tube-equipped GSAR soon.

Upgraded Swiss Automatic Caliber from Sellita 

One of the key aspects we wanted for our first watch collaboration was a Swiss-made mechanical caliber. Marathon has long partnered with Sellita, a leading manufacturer of Swiss movements, and the standard Marathon GSAR and OSAR have long utilized the Sellita SW200-1 with a date function and up to 41 hours of power reserve. We wanted to take our watch to another level with a meaningful upgrade under the proverbial hood, so to speak. 

The W.O.E. Titanium SAR utilizes the upgraded SW200-2B, a non-date caliber with an upgraded power system that enables a new, up to 65-hour power reserve, meaning you could theoretically wear or wind the watch on Friday, wear something else all weekend, and pick up your still-running Marathon on Monday morning—a huge upgrade. A true non-date caliber, there is no “ghost date” position when setting the watch with the crown. 

Legible Dial with Upgraded Luminescent Material 

Today, the issued version of the SAR platform is most often the GSAR, which leans into tritium gas-filled tubes on the dial and hands to provide constant low-light luminescence that does not rely on an external light source. It is good tech, but our goal is always to balance heritage and capability, and the dial on the Marathon x W.O.E. SAR is designed to honor the original SAR model from 2001, but enhanced with better luminescence and upgraded indices that give the dial even greater legibility. 

An original Marathon SAR (left) alongside the new W.O.E. Collaboration.

With that in mind, our collaboration leans into applied indices framed in matte black and filled with an upgraded version of Marathon’s proprietary MaraGlo luminescent material that is equivalent in brightness to Super-LumiNova X2 while also being longer-lasting. For a cleaner display, we opted for a non-date format and an overall design that recalls some of history’s greatest military designs, including the Benrus Type I and II. This is no accident, as the military specification that led to the Benrus Type series (MIL-W-50717) is the same one that inspired the original SAR dial. 

Swiss-made FKM Rubber Strap 

Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR will be delivered with Marathon’s Swiss-made 3-piece FKM rubber strap kit, which contains two buckle-side pieces of different lengths for a custom fit or to accommodate a wetsuit or other bulky gear. The buckle is also executed in grade 5 titanium. We will have a few surprise items included…

Final Thoughts

For us, the Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR is ultimately less about putting our name on a watch, which would have been easy, and more about building the kind of watch we actually wanted to wear. Every decision, from the titanium case and upgraded movement to applied indices on the non-date dial, to the blue MaraGlo, and subtle references to our community, was made with that goal in mind. 

It took more than a year, plenty of back-and-forth, and a few prototypes to get here, but the result is a modern SAR watch that remains firmly rooted in its military lineage while offering a few functional and meaningful upgrades for today. We’re proud of how it turned out, and perhaps more importantly, we’re excited to finally put it to work. 

To learn more about the Marathon x W.O.E. Titanium SAR, click HERE. 

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