Garmin Marq will compete with luxury sports watches for your wrist space

Garmin has announced a collection of luxury smartwatches focused on sailing, driving, flying, athletic performance and exploring, breaking off from its usual pattern of multisport watches and trackers.

The Marq watches - made up by the Captain, Driver, Aviator, Athlete and Expedition - are being described by Garmin as "connected tools", with the lofty price point (ranging from £1,399.99 to £2,249.99) putting them comfortably above the company's current most expensive range, the Fenix. All are available to buy from today.

Hands on: Garmin Marq review

Each device will feature an always-on, readable display, with GPS, heart rate and a pulse oximeter sensors bolstering the tracking experience. Smartwatch features are also on board, as Garmin Pay can be used for contactless payments, notifications can be beamed from a connected phone and built-in music storage and Spotify support helps users play their tunes from the wrist.

As the image above shows, each watch in the Marq range does have a slightly different design, but Garmin notes that each is built from titanium and features a sapphire crystal, scratch resistant screen. The straps on each watch are interchangeable, too.

Battery life, like with other premium Garmin watches, is roughly what we'd expect, offering 12 days in smartwatch mode, 28 hours in GPS mode and 48 hours in the low-power GPS mode, UltraTrac.

Despite all falling under the same banner and offering much of the same base package outlined above, though, the five watches do differ quite dramatically, since they're designed with a specific activity in mind. Let's clear up what's actually offered:

Marq Captain

• Garmin indicates the nylon band is specifically designed for the wear of saltwater.
• Comes with dedicated sailing features, such as a virtual starting line, time to burn and tack assist.
• The watch face is able to show wind speed, temperature, and tide information.

Marq Driver

• Comes pre-loaded with 250 race tracks from around the world.
• Features automated time keeping of lap performance, lap splits, live delta time and a track timer.
• Can calculate the average speed and shows it in real-time through the tachymeter around the edge of the bezel.

Marq Aviator

• Comes with an interchangeable multi-link bracelet.
• Three time zones displayed on the watch face; one with the time in your set location, two additionally set zones represented through local airport codes.
• Features dedicated aviation features such as maps with airport details, safety features like Direct-To Navigation, Nexrad Weather Radar, a worldwide airport database and Garmin cockpit integration.

Marq Athlete

• The bezel offers users a glanceable look at their VO2 Max and recovery time.
• Features running dynamics and workout tracking to bring stats, measurements and insights.

Marq Expedition

• Packs a 360-degree compass bezel, analogue barometric scales on the watch face, TOPO mapping, auto-calibrating altimeter and barometer.
• Compatible with the inReach Mini satellite communicator, allowing users to wirelessly communicate by sending and receiving messages from anywhere in the world.

We've had an early play with the Marq but hope to have our hands on one for further testing to see if Garmin has a future in the world of luxury watches.