Jeep and Marathon Watches Team Up for Military-Inspired Watches

Jeep and Marathon Watches made their names supplying the military, and now they’re collaborating

Marathon Watches made its name in 1939 creating watches for members of the military, and to this day it sells a series of watches inspired by the General Purpose (or GP) requirements of the U.S. Army during the Second World War. Legend has it that it was this same designation, GP, that led to the name “Jeep”.

Although there are competing stories about the etymology of the off-road vehicle’s name, the fact remains that the Jeep and Marathon watches share a military history. It therefore made sense for the brands to collaborate on a watch collection.

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The brands have created two lines of timepieces, each offered with a quartz or mechanical movement, making four different models in total. These are the General Purpose Officer Series and the Search and Rescue Series.

The first is a modernized version of the original World War II Marathon watch, with dials inspired by the 1941 Jeep Wrangler Limited Edition. The numerals are illuminated with Aged-Radium and it features a three-piece Crazy Horse leather strap.

The automatic version of the General Purpose Officer’s Series watch (below) features a Swiss-made ETA F06.402 HeavyDrive-PreciDrive quartz movement and prices start at $500, while the hand-wound manual version includes a Swiss Sellita SW210-1 mechanical movement with price starting from $650.

Meanwhile, the Search and Rescue model (below) sports a military-inspired look and incorporates features such as a “red line” indicator inspired by a Jeep tachometer that serves as a 15-minute countdown timer . The font used on the watch is again inspired by the 1941 Jeep Wrangler Limited Edition.

Featuring an oversized 60-minute/120-click unidirectional dive bezel and 300 meters (984 feet) of water resistance, the Search and Rescue series is as rugged as its name suggests. To illuminate the dial, Marathon Watches uses a combination of tritium gas tubes and MaraGlo technology.

Also available in two versions, the more affordable Search and Rescue watch uses a Swiss ETA F06.412 HeavyDrivePreciDrive quartz movement and costs $1,200. The self-winding automatic version of the watch uses a Swiss Sellita SW200-1 movement and costs $1,500.

“We are extremely proud of this very unique collaboration that demonstrates a shared heritage of common values ​​and legendary history in our Jeep x Marathon Officer’s and SAR watches,” said Kim Adams House, Head of Licensing and Marketing. merchandising at Stellantis, North America. “These timepieces don’t just tell the time: they tell the story of two brands coming together based on shared values ​​and purposeful consumer usability, uniting the ‘Jeep people’ and the “watch people”.