Today, Garmin announces the new MARQ Carbon Collection – the latest in their luxury watch lineup taking their already-premium Epix and giving it the Marq treatment in a whole new way.
The MARQ collection has been all about taking their highest-end Fenix or Epix sportswatches and letting Garmin engineers loose in their labs to transform it into something even more premium and more unique. With the Marq Carbon they did just that.
Previous MARQ watches utilized a grade-5 titanium case vs the polymer cases found on their Fenix 6 and Epix gen 2 – the two watches used as the foundation for the original MARQ 1 and MARQ gen 2. This new collection reimagines the Epix gen 2 with carbon fiber which not only makes it stronger and lighter but they also claim has benefits surrounding sensor accuracy where it doesn’t interfere with signals.
The new 46mm carbon-fiber case is comprised of a 130-layer block with each 0.1mm layer being rotated each time on layup designed to increase the strength. It then undergoes rounds of heat and pressure as well as machining with diamond bits to produce the final watch housing. The final result is not only claimed lighter and stronger but also has an incredibly unique pattern, with a spiral design that’s quite frankly stunning. The carbon fiber case is then fused with a titanium rear cover and a sapphire lens to protect the 1.2″ AMOLED display. The MARQ Carbon uses Garmin’s 4th generation Elevate heart rate sensor.
The new MARQ Carbon collection is comprised of 3 different editions – the MARQ athlete, MARQ Golfer, and MARQ Commander – each with unique design features and software features based on the target owner.
The MARQ Athlete will be the carbonized version of their Epix gen 2 being the MARQ to choose for the more sports-focused individual having nearly all the features found on their premium sportswatch. The Athlete Edition runs $2950 and comes with a silicone watch strap which is specially designed for the MARQ to create a seamless, wrap-around look.
The MARQ Golfer builds upon the Athlete including golf-centric features like golf performance stats, a virtual caddie feature, as well as green contours. The Golf Edition runs $3100 and comes with a leather band but also includes a silicone band in the box.
The MARQ Commander is the tactical tool of choice with features like Applied Ballistics shooting solutions as well as night-vision capability. The Commander runs $3200 and comes with a special Jacquard weave nylon band.
With the MARQ Carbon being based on the Epix gen 2, it doesn’t include the built in flashlight that comes on the Epix Pro however with the integrated band on the Athlete edition it could be hard to make it fully functional.