With the introduction of the Marq Carbon Collection, Garmin has added to its Marq (Gen 2) smartwatch line. The Marq Athlete, Marq Commander, and Marq Golfer are the three watches that make up the line. According to the manufacturer, each one has a special Fused Carbon Fiber construction that has taken “decades in the making.”
According to Garmin, fused carbon fiber is a strong and lightweight material that is 62% lighter than titanium and has higher abrasion resistance. To maintain the housing’s tensile strength, 130 carbon fiber layers are rotated during manufacture.
The layers are then bent by Garmin to fit the angles of the watch lugs and align the block with the design of the watch case. The material is then machined over many hours using a diamond cutter to produce lightweight parts with a distinctive spiral pattern running through the material itself.
On the new Garmin MARQ Carbon series, the buttons, outer bezel ring, and caseback are all composed of grade 5 titanium with a black DLC finish, while the center case and bezel are constructed of fused carbon fiber.
The Marq Carbon Collection has the same features as the standard Marq 2 series except from the carbon material. As a result, the new smartwatches have 46mm case widths and 1.2-inch AMOLED screens with 390 x 390 pixel resolutions. Additionally, the MARQ Carbon Collection has a battery life rating of up to 6 days in smartwatch mode and 21 days with energy saver mode turned on.
There are, however, a few characteristics that distinguish each gadget in the collection. For example, the Marq Golfer includes three Approach CT10 club tracking sensors, the Marq Athlete includes Garmin’s HRM-Pro Plus chest strap heart rate monitor for more accurate biometrics, and the Marq Commander comes with two straps: one made of heathered black woven nylon and the other of black silicone rubber.
The Athlete version of the MARQ Carbon Collection is available for $2,950 USD. The Golfer and Commander versions are furthermore available from Garmin for US$3,100 and US$3,200, respectively. The smartwatches may be bought through the Garmin official website.