Garmin says it was founded in 1989 and identifies Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao as its co-founders. On its about page, the company describes starting with GPS navigation products and later expanding into aviation, marine, automotive, outdoor, and fitness markets.
Garmin’s site documents several product milestones tied to its watch business. Its history page says Garmin released Connect IQ in 2014 as an open platform for third-party apps. It says the Forerunner 225 launched in 2015 as Garmin’s first GPS running watch with heart rate tracking from the wrist, vívomove was released in 2016, the Descent Mk1 was introduced in 2018 as the company’s first professional dive watch, and the MARQ Collection was launched in 2019 as a flagship range of smart tool watches. The same history page says Garmin introduced proprietary solar charging technology for smartwatches in 2020 and describes it as encompassing more than 30 patented solar power module technologies.
Garmin’s watch collections have included Forerunner, fēnix, Instinct, Venu, vívomove, MARQ, tactix, and Descent. These lines appear across Garmin’s history and product pages as part of its wearable range.
Garmin lists Garmin International, Inc. in Olathe, Kansas, as its headquarters facility. The company has also said its U.S. corporate headquarters campus in Olathe is powered by renewable wind energy, and a 2025 company post says Garmin employs more than 5,000 associates across four facilities in Kansas.
find.watches is not an authorized dealer for Garmin.