This week, Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer added to its popular smartwatch series while also introducing its latest brand partnership. The new Connected x Super Mario is TAG Heuer?s first collaboration with Nintendo, creator of the iconic, eponymous video game character, and the watch at its core represents a playful gamified take on TAG’s flagship “smart” timepiece. As the Connected models are most often used for exercise, the Super Mario character ? most often depicted running and jumping his way to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil Bowser? seems a natural fit for accomplishing the watchmaker?s gamification goals.

As far as its case is concerned, the watch retains the familiar design cues of its predecessors: specifically, it draws its silhouette from that of TAG Heuer’s standard mechanical Carrera, 45 mm in diameter by 13.5 mm thick in steel, with sharply faceted angles, extended lugs, and a black ceramic bezel contrasting its otherwise metallic look. A closer inspection reveals the watch?s unique colorway, its red accents derived from the ?Super Mario? designation, as well as the Mario-signature iconography on the lacquered bezel, with a mushroom, pipe, and star occupying three of the four quarter-hour positions.
Functionality, the Connected x Super Mario offers essentially the same features as previous iterations of the Connected, including an interactive display, a full day?s worth of battery life, quick charging, and...