Among military watch enthusiasts has been the Marathon Search And Rescue (SAR) watch and its predecessor, the Chronograph Search And Rescue (CSAR) timepiece. Having collected a wide variety of military designed watches over the years I figured I'd share some of the highlight on these particular timepieces. The original SAR has been used among Canadian Search and Rescue Teams, American military, and a host of national and local law enforcement members.

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Item: Search And Rescue Watch
Manufacturer: Marathon
Website: http://www.marathonwatch.com/

Among military watch enthusiasts has been the Marathon Search And Rescue (SAR) watch and its predecessor, the Chronograph Search And Rescue (CSAR) timepiece. Having collected a wide variety of military designed watches over the years I figured I'd share some of the highlight on these particular timepieces. The original SAR has been used among Canadian Search and Rescue Teams, American military, and a host of national and local law enforcement members. Featuring a uni-directional bezel with 60-minute timing increments, the manufacturer maintains the SAR is water resistant to 1000ft. When free-snorkeling off of Australia late 2007 I encountered no problems with the SAR's watertight seal given what little depth I went. The dial also stood out and was easily readable despite having a somewhat smaller watch face as compared to the CSAR. The SAR is constructed of 316L stainless steel which is the same grade you find in surgical strength devices. Illumination is also provided by Tritium gas tubes on the hands and hour markings which contrast the black dial extremely well. Illumination paint it also used on the bezel markings and second hand. The SAR comes in either a quartz or automatic movement with a Swiss-made diver band, however you can also purchase an additional deployment bracelet as well.

Item: Chronograph Pilot's Search And Rescue Watch
Manufacturer: Marathon
Website: http://www.marathonwatch.com/

If the SAR is the original, then the CSAR would be the Cadillac upgrade. Made with the same stainless steel materials and Tritium illumination, the CSAR Pilots Watch features the 7750 ETA Valjoux Automatic timing device (typically also found in high-end watches such as Omega and Breitling). Featuring screw-down crown pushers for the second, minute, and hour timing faces the CSAR is also water resistant to 1000ft (in so long as all the crowns are screwed down tight). The two things that separate the CSAR apart from other watches however is the dual day/date display which is a welcomed chance as many only feature the date dial. The other major difference is the size. The CSAR is defiantly a watch to be noticed. At an overall size of 46.6mm and weighing in at 5.2oz it is defiantly one of the biggest watches I've ever owned (even rivaling some of Invicta's oversized watches). However despite its size, the CSAR wasn't a detraction I found. I have large forearms so it seemed to fix nicely and never pinched my wrist or looked out of place. I was so impressed I made the CSAR my daily wear. Again, like the SAR, a deployment bracelet is also available.

My only word of caution for these watches is if you decide the reliability of an automatic watch is preferable over the precision of a quartz timepiece then care should be exercised when adjusting the date/time functions of the automatic watches (this is not uncommon among automatic watches). Marathon includes a warning with their automatic products in that due to the watch's design you should not adjust the date between a key hour range (I believe it's 8pm-12am). This is typically the time the watch is preparing to change the date and if you attempt to manually "force" change the day during this key time you run the risk of damaging the internal components. The manufacturer suggests that if you need to adjust the date to do so by advancing the time until the desire date is achieved.