The $3,100 Garmin watch that challenges your financial fitness
For those who find regular smartwatches too pedestrian and have a few thousand dollars burning a hole in their pocket, Garmin has released a new variant of their MARQ Adventurer. The Damascus Steel Edition comes with a crazy price tag of $3,100 – roughly the cost of a decent used car.
But what does that princely sum get you? The main trick is that the timepiece features a case and bezel crafted from Damascus steel. This is a material historically used in sword-making and now apparently repurposed to help you part with your money. The case is paired with a hybrid strap combining leather and fluorocarbon rubber.
The technical specifications are decent enough, even if they won’t help justify the price tag to your significant other. A 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen display sits beneath sapphire crystal, while the watch’s brain includes GPS, Glonass, and Galileo support. The whole thing is water-resistant to 10 ATM.
The watch includes the standard fitness tracking features you’d expect from a Garmin device. It monitors everything from heart rate to stress levels. The built-in thermometer can measure both body and ambient temperature, helpful for determining if it’s your workout or the sticker shock making you sweat.
The watch also supports Garmin Pay for contactless payments. Storage space allows for music, maps, and training sessions to be saved directly on the device.
Our takeaway
This hefty price tag for a smartwatch feels excessive. Especially when you compare it to traditional high-end watches in the same price range. But there’s obviously a market for this sort of thing. Whether that combination is worth more than a down payment on a car is entirely up to you. You can check the Damascus Steel Edition out on Garmin.com.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
In our mind, while the design is visually appealing, it’s hard to justify spending that much on a watch that doesn’t offer substantial new functionality or improved sensors. And which will be outdated in a couple of years time. At this price, you’d expect gold or even diamonds, not just steel.
It seems like this watch is more about luxury and aesthetics than practical value. If you can afford it, it might be a nice addition to your collection, but for those looking for a serious fitness or outdoor device, it doesn’t offer much beyond its premium design. Some of the features appear outdated, which only adds to the sense that it’s more of a fashion statement than a functional tool.
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It’s still base don Garmin’s buggy software, which I can’t stand.