Hands-On: Marathon Navigator Automatic ‘ADANAC Red Maple’ Watch For Canada Day 2025
For the last few years, Toronto-based Marathon Watch Company has released a special timepiece for the occasion of Canada Day (July 1st). The 2025 edition of the Marathon Canada Day limited-edition watch takes the concept further than ever before with a product that loudly projects Canadian pride as well as Marathon’s own history in the country. Full disclosure: While I know Marathon very well and have visited its headquarters on the outskirts of Toronto, I am not Canadian. Many of you reading this are, so know that an American is talking about a very Canadian watch. Actually, I learned from a young age that Canadians are very proud, but vis-à-vis a satirical joke (this Ren & Stimpy song) that merely alluded to a culture of values and principles. The reference WW194030SS-1601 2025 “ADANAC Red Maple” Canada Day Marathon watch is based on a Navigator (SSNAV-D Auto) model for the first time, and is meant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Canada’s iconic white and red maple leaf flag, which replaced the Canadian Red Ensign flag that had a British flag in it, sort of similar to the Australian flag.
Even though Marathon’s most popular watches are still members of the GSAR family, the Navigator series has been up and coming, especially since Marathon now offers so many different versions of it. Here, with the sandblasted steel case and Swiss Made automatic movement, we see the Navigator in its most elite form (to date), though it still comes with a reasonable price. Not long ago, I also featured the stainless steel Navigator “SSNAV” with a high-accuracy quartz movement on aBlogtoWatch when reviewing the Marathon SSNAV-D (“D” for “date”) Blue Yonder. The Blue Yonder was the first time Marathon used a colorful blue insert for the bi-directionally rotating bezel, and this 2025 Canada Day SSNAV is the first Navigator to use a red-colored aluminum bezel insert. The dial is white with black markers and a prominent applied red Canadian flag maple leaf under the 12 o’clock hour marker. The seconds hand is also red, and it is worth noting that it features a slightly tweaked design. The counterweight is meant to look like the rear-end of an arrow shaft, which is a small suggestion that Canada might have charm, but it also has bite.
Marathon’s leader, Mitchell Wein, mentioned to me that this Canada Day 2025 watch was partially inspired by the new wave of Canadian patriotism that has been emerging since political discussions with the United States have become more combative (for example, about tariff negotiations). Canada does not want to be walked all over and is understandably proud of its sovereignty and character. One small detail on the watch represents this concept well. On the watch case’s rear is the statement “True North Est. 1867.” Indeed, Canada was founded in 1867, and “True North” is part of a phrase (True North, strong & free) from the nation’s “O Canada” anthem. More recently, however, “True North” has been chanted at hockey games (and maybe some other sporting events) as a way to evoke Canadian national pride and spirit.
Marathon has been proudly and assertively Canadian for a long time. People familiar with the brand may also know of another trademark name it has: “ADANAC.” When the company was mostly a military supplier, it made lots of stopwatches and wristwatches with “ADANAC” on the dials. The term is actually just “Canada” spelled backwards, but was never flagged as being an indicator of origin. Marathon was making military supplies for “Allied Forces” all over the world, and it wasn’t always common for those objects to have their place of origin on the front or surface of the tool. “ADANAC” was Marathon’s discreet way of announcing to the users of their tools and devices that the company was proudly Canadian. While the dial of this particular 2025 Canada Day Navigator watch does have “Marathon” on the dial, it has a nice inked engraving on the side of the case that says “ADANAC.” The idea is to remind wearers that for decades, Marathon has been proudly mentioning and promoting Canadian values.
Previous Marathon watches have had Canadian flag maple leaves on the dial. What is new, however, is the placement of a maple leaf motif on the crown — a really nice touch for a watch that is doing its best to celebrate the Canadian flag. The Navigator case itself is 41.5mm wide, is asymmetrical in that the right flank is wider than the left (mainly to act as a crown guard), is 11.5mm thick, has a 48mm long lug-to-lug distance, and uses 20mm wide straps. The case is also water resistant to 100 meters (with a screw down crown) and has a flat, AR-coated sapphire crystal over the dial. Like most Marathon watches, this Navigator Automatic uses self-illumination tritium gas tubes in the hands and hour markers for darkness illumination.
The Navigator itself was designed as a pilot’s watch. It features exceptional legibility as well as the ability to withstand large changes in air pressure. The Navigator case has a funky look to it at first, but quickly grows on you, as it is both comfortable and attractive (especially from the side, in my opinion). Even though Marathon is based in Canada, its watches are produced at its own factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. I know what you are thinking, but there are already enough “Swiss pride” watches out there. One of the most attractive elements of the 2025 Canada Day Navigator Automatic is the included NATO-style strap. It features a combination of red, tan, and gray colors that you’ll find on the watch itself, and is among the more fashionable stock nylon NATO-style straps I’ve ever seen fitted to a Marathon timepiece. It does help that these are limited-edition versions of the SSNAV-D Auto.
As I mentioned above, Marathon produces Navigator watches with multiple movements. The SSNAV-D is equipped with a modified Swiss Made Sellita caliber SW200-1 automatic movement (with more shock protection). The movement operates at 4Hz with about two days of power reserve, and offers the time with a date window located between the 4 and 5 o’clock hour markers. Note that the bi-directional rotating bezel allows for either timing a 60-minute interval or acting as a second time zone, given the style of markers.
Marathon will produce only 500 pieces of the limited edition 2025 Canada Day Navigator SSNAV-D Auto watch. It’s very much the epitome of a proudly Canadian watch, just short of actually being built there. Then again, as a proudly globalist country, Canadian pride probably doesn’t hinge on everything actually being produced there. While not everyone will necessarily want a Canada Day watch from Marathon, special versions like this show a more playful side of Marathon, while still helping to promote its core military-spec wristwatches that are intended for search and rescue purposes. Price for the reference WW194030SS-1601 Marathon “ADANAC Red Maple” Navigator SSNAV-D Auto Canada Day 2025 watch is $1,280 USD. Learn more at the Marathon Watch Company website.
