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Garmin Marq Athlete (Gen 2) Carbon Edition 46mm Watch Smart Watch
Ref. 010-02722-11
Sits in Garmin’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Garmin watches we list, which start at £130.
Price range £130 to £2,799 across 77 Garmin watches in stock.The MARQ Athlete line began as Garmin's answer to a question the sports watch category had not quite resolved: whether a serious training tool could be built without the bulk and weight that serious training tools tend to carry. The Carbon Edition takes that further still, pressing 130 layers of fused carbon fibre into a monoblock case whose grain pattern comes out differently on every example. At 75 grams including the strap, it is lighter than most mechanical watches of comparable size, which matters when it is on the wrist for an eight-hour ultramarathon or a back-to-back track session. The AMOLED display is the practical centre of the watch: it handles dark-condition visibility that a conventional lume application could not approach, with adjustable brightness and an always-on option that does not demand a wrist raise. The Grade 5 titanium caseback grounds the carbon shell, and the silicone strap swaps tool-free via Garmin's QuickFit system — relevant when the same watch moves between a racing kit and a wetsuit setup without ceremony. Physical buttons sit alongside the touchscreen, a detail that matters in gloves or rain when a tapping finger produces nothing useful.
- Reference
- 010-02722-11
- Brand
- Garmin
- Collection
- MARQ Athlete (Gen 2) - Carbon Edition
- Case size
- 46mm
- Case thickness
- 15mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Carbon
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Black
- Functions
- Chronograph, Stopwatch, Countdown timer, Alarm, Backlight, Solar powered, Bluetooth, Step counter, Heart rate, GPS, Compass, Thermometer, Altimeter
- Water resistance
- 100m
- Bracelet / strap
- Silicone strap
- Strap colour
- Black
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Learn more about Garmin
Gary Burrell and Min Kao founded Garmin in 1989 — the name is a contraction of their first names — to build GPS receivers for aviation and marine use. Consumer navigation came later, and wearables later still.
Unlike most names in this directory that arrived from outside watchmaking, Garmin is not a licence. It designs and builds its own devices, writes its own software and runs its own satellite-positioning stack, which is why its watches do things Swiss houses do not attempt.
The fenix line established the template in 2012: a rugged multi-sport GPS watch with mapping, altimeter and week-long battery life. Forerunner covers running, Instinct the hard-wearing end, Venu the smartwatch end, and the MARQ line puts the same electronics in titanium and sapphire at Swiss prices.
Battery life is the differentiator. Where most smartwatches are measured in days, Garmin measures in weeks, and in solar-charging models sometimes in months.
These are instruments rather than heirlooms, and they date the way electronics date — but for anyone who actually trains, they are among the few watches on the market that earn their place.
- 1989
- Founded by Gary Burrell and Min Kao.
- 2003
- The Forerunner brings GPS to running watches.
- 2012
- The fenix line defines the multi-sport GPS watch.
- 2019
- MARQ places the electronics in titanium and sapphire.
- 2020
- Solar charging extends battery life to months.
Also in 5 collections
This watch appears in Back in Stock (4,683), Chronograph Watches (1,219), Watches 44mm and Over (827), All Black Watches (315) and Solar & Kinetic Watches (208).
Best of 2 retailers
What the specifications mean
Strengths
- 100m water resistance covers swimming and watersports
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Garmin's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 46mm is a large watch with real presence
- 15mm thick, so it will not disappear under a cuff
Price history
This watch is currently at its highest recorded price. It was £1,679 on 26 August. Prices are checked every day, and we record any changes.
Garmin Marq Athlete (Gen 2) alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 010-02722-11 | SSH177J1 | 822.70.131.20-SE5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,599 | £2,700 | £3,890 |
| Case size | 46mm | 44.1mm | 42.5mm |
| Water resistance | 100m | 100m | 300m |
| Movement | Solar | Solar | Solar |
| Strap | Silicone strap | Titanium bracelet | Mesh bracelet |
| This watch |
|
|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Yes. At 100m it is rated for swimming and snorkelling, though not for diving.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It charges from light, and the cell behind that is designed to last a decade or more.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedWhat size strap does it take?
22mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as unisex, and at this size it suits any wrist that takes the dimensions.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £2,599, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
Has the price changed recently?
It's currently at its highest recorded price. It's ranged between £1,679 and £2,599, today it's £2,599.
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