To celebrate the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the two brands, TAG Heuer and Nintendo have created a limited-edition smartwatch featuring Nintendo’s most famous character: the energetic Mushroom Kingdom hero, Mario, who takes over the TAG Heuer Connected.
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, July 13th 2021: When TAG Heuer and Super Mario join forces, you can bet the result is a timepiece that adds new excitement to both the watchmaking and gaming worlds and which fans of the two brands will be desperate to get their hands on! Super Mario meets the TAG Heuer Connected. The result? A watch that stands out and brings new creativity and daring style to the avant-garde watchmaker’s collections. The intrepid, iconic hero comes to life in this luxury smartwatch that combines sport, technology and elegance in one dynamic package. In this collaboration, the TAG Heuer Connected is offering wearers a fun new way to get more active, feeling the thrill of achieving goals throughout the day.
Generations of gamers have grown up with Super Mario, with more than 370 million Super Mario games sold worldwide since 1985. Since the first Super Mario Bros. game launched in Japan in 1985, Super Mario – with his red cap and blue overalls – has become recognised the world over.
“The inspiration for this collaboration came from our desire to gamify and bring excitement to our new wellness application and Super Mario instantly came to our minds,” says Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer. “And it’s not just his international and intergenerational appeal that clinched it. Mario is the ultimate super-active character whose perseverance and tenacity get him out of every situation. The new hero watchface gives life to this iconic character and encourage users to team up with Mario to get out there and be more active? The TAG Heuer Connected is the perfect companion for a connected life and every active person’s best friend. With this Super Mario limited-edition smartwatch, they can add a bit of fun and originality to their activities and wellness.”
At the heart of this collaboration, the TAG Heuer Connected watch is a unique combination of the refinement and elegance of a chronograph-inspired timepiece crafted in the purest watchmaking tradition, with a state-of-the-art, custom-designed digital experience geared towards performance. It offers customers a striking and versatile wristwatch to enhance their individual lifestyle, from daily connected services to immersive sports experiences.
Feel the thrill of progress with the TAG Heuer
Connected and Super Mario interactive watchface
Thanks to the TAG Heuer Connected, action is at the heart of this TAG Heuer x Super Mario collaboration.
This brand-new digital creation, combining luxury and sport with fun features along the way, encourages the wearer to get out and about and step up their physical activity with Mario, to be rewarded by the
pleasure and satisfaction of marking their progress.
Mario himself is always on the move, whether he’s running and jumping, or playing sports like golf and tennis. His upbeat and active personality will encourage wearers of this smartwatch to enjoy moving too. With its watchface, which becomes livelier and more animated the more the wearer is active, this edition of the TAG Heuer Connected changes as its user makes progress, for a fun and motivating way
of keeping active throughout the day.
The animations are based on the gamification rewards system: Mario greets you with a welcoming salute in the morning and as the day progresses and you rack up your step count, you unlock rewards at each stage of your daily target – 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% – a different animation plays out on the dial. These take the form of Super Mario’s famous objects: at 3 o’clock the Super Mushroom that makes Mario grow, at 6 o’clock the Pipe that allows him to travel fast and at 9 o’clock the Super Star that makes him invincible lights up! And when you reach 100% of your daily step count target, Mario climbs the Goal Pole, another iconic feature of the video game.
The idea is inspired by the famous “easter egg” concept that all gamers know very well, which consists of hiding features and surprises as a bonus in video games.
The interactive watchface will be pre-installed on the TAG Heuer Connected Super Mario Limited Edition, but TAG Heuer will also make it available on other editions of TAG Heuer Connected at a later stage.
The TAG Heuer Connected x Super Mario
Limited Edition
The TAG Heuer Connected Super Mario limited-edition comes packed with exclusives, both in the digital experience it delivers, and on the watch itself.
The interface has been completely redesigned in the Super Mario colours.
For this limited edition, TAG Heuer’s famous Connected watchfaces have been reinterpreted with Super Mario special versions, four dials revisited to include special details associated with Super Mario.
The Timekeeping watchface was reskinned using the retro elements from the 1985 version of Super Mario Bros. with Mario, all in pixels. Also, two versions of the Heuer 02 watchface were created exclusively for this edition: a fun rendition using Super Mario’s iconic red and blue colours, and a more classic one with subtle touches of Super Mario’s red cap. Lastly, the Orbital watchface had its neural network replaced by Super Mario’s iconic elements rotating in a beautiful and mesmerizing movement.
On the exterior as well, the TAG Heuer Connected Limited Edition was designed with exclusive and subtle references that will delight Super Mario fans. The bezel graduation, push buttons and crown logo were filled with Super Mario’s famous red cap’s lacquered colour, making the watch instantly stand out from the core collection. The bezel features three iconic symbols at the three, six and nine o’clock positions, in a nod to the Super Mario objects included in the dial animations that the user can unlock and discover only when achieving goals throughout the day.
The new-look steel case also comes with two novel interchangeable straps, both featuring the signature Super Mario red colour: an elegant black leather on red rubber and a sporty alternative in matching red perforated rubber. The M symbol of Mario is engraved on the strap buckles and on the crown. Lastly, the screw-down case-back bears the special inscription “TAG Heuer x Super Mario Limited Edition”.
The TAG Heuer Connected x Super Mario Limited Edition is presented in a packaging designed exclusively for this collaboration. It also comes with a travel case in Super Mario red. This edition limited to 2,000 watches will be available only in selected TAG Heuer boutiques and at www.tagheuer.com in some regions, from 15th July 2021.
TAG Heuer Connected Sport and Wellness
‘With the third generation of TAG Heuer Connected, the brand has consolidated its pole position in the luxury smartwatch category. Manufactured in the finest watchmaking tradition, it features a unique combination of elegance – through the use of highest-quality materials and sophisticated finishes – and cutting-edge digital know-how to offer personalised, performance-oriented support. With its remarkably versatile design, the TAG Heuer Connected accompanies everyone’s individual lifestyle, offering a host of daily connected services through Wear OS from Google* and unrivalled sporting experiences through the TAG Heuer Sport app. Developed in-house, the TAG Heuer Sport app provides detailed feedback on the wearer’s performance in a variety of activities including running, swimming, cycling, walking and physical fitness. Meanwhile, golfers will love the new game strategy enhancement functionality recently added to the TAG Heuer Golf app. Lastly, the new Wellness function enables users to stay in shape and provides feedback on changes in their biometric data during their daily exercise.
Facts and figures:
TAG Heuer Connected x Super Mario
Limited Edition
Reference SBG8A13.EB0238
Digital content:
TAG Heuer Connected watchfaces
TAG Heuer x Super Mario animated watchface*
TAG Heuer x Super Mario interface and reskins watchfaces
(exclusive to the Limited Edition)
Physical characteristics:
45 mm diameter
13.5 mm thickness
Water-resistant to 5 ATM
430 mAh battery, lasts for a full day
Battery life:
One full day under normal usage conditions (20 hours with
1 hour of activity), 6 hours for sports use (GPS, heart rate
and music)
Charge time: full charge in 1 hour 30 minutes at temperatures of
between 15 C and 45 C
Sensors:
Heart rate monitor, compass, accelerometer, metrics and recorded
activities
Data accuracy: the data and values generated or calculated by the
TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch when monitoring activities are
designed to provide a precise estimate of the metrics and activities
recorded. However, these data and values cannot always be 100%
accurate and must not be used for purposes requiring 100%
accuracy. The TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch features a heart
rate monitor, but this is not a medical device and is not designed to
provide medical diagnosis services or medical advice. It must not
be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness or disease.
Case:
Steel case
The screw-down caseback bears the special inscription
“TAG Heuer x Super Mario Limited Edition”
Super Mario red lacquer applied to the bezel graduations
Red lacquered push buttons
M symbol of Mario engraved on the crown in red lacquer
Strap:
Quick-change system
Black leather strap on red rubber
Additional perforated rubber strap in Super Mario red
Steel folding clasp engraved with M symbol of Mario
About TAG Heuer
TAG Heuer, founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland, is a luxury watch brand that is part of LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton SE (“LVMH”), the world’s leading luxury group. Based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland and with four production sites, TAG Heuer has 1470 employees and is active in 139 countries. TAG Heuer products are available online on www.tagheuer.com for select countries and in 160 boutiques and 3,000 points of sale worldwide. The company is headed up by Frédéric Arnault, CEO of TAG Heuer.
For 160 years, TAG Heuer has demonstrated pure avant-garde watchmaking spirit and a commitment to innovation with revolutionary technologies that have included the oscillating pinion for mechanical
stopwatches in 1887, the Mikrograph in 1916, the first automatic-winding chronograph movement – Calibre 11 – in 1969 and the first luxury smartwatch in 2015. Today, the brand’s core collection consists of three iconic families designed by Jack Heuer – TAG Heuer Carrera, Monaco and Autavia – and is rounded out with the contemporary Link, Aquaracer, Formula 1 and Connected lines.
Capturing TAG Heuer’s motto, “Don’t Crack Under Pressure”, are prominent partnerships and
brand ambassadors that express the brand’s passion for action and high performance.
www.tagheuer.com
@TAGHeuer
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For further information, please contact:
Tiziana Tedeschi
International PR Director TAG Heuer
+41 (0)79 255 99 01
tiziana.tedeschi@tagheuer.com
Fabiola Bobbio
International PR Manager TAG Heuer
+41 (0)79 204 88 77
fabiola.bobbio@tagheuer.com
Julien Baudet
International PR Project Manager TAG Heuer
+41 (0)79 866 52 56
julien.baudet@tagheuer.com
