Until Nintendo decides to make a gaming watch (don’t pretend like you wouldn’t wear a Time Boy) it seems like the closest we’ll get to Mario officially being on a wearable is Tag Heuer collaborations, including two new Mario Kart themed timepieces with some fun mechanical engineering and less fun astronomical price tags.
This isn’t actually the first time Nintendo has collaborated with Tag Heuer on a themed wearable. Last year, the two companies joined forces for the Tag Heuer Super Mario Connected smartwatch, which desperately tried to justify a $US2,150 ($AU3,415) price tag with Mario-themed watch faces and animations, including some that could only be revealed if a wearer completed different percentages of their daily step goal. Understandably, despite oozing with Nintendo Easter Eggs that fans clamor for, just 2,000 of the pricy watches were created.
For their follow-up collaboration, Tag Heuer is instead bringing Mario Kart theming to a pair of more traditional mechanical watches that, as you’ve probably guessed, are even more expensive.
The more affordable of the two new releases (with affordable doing quite a bit of heavy lifting here) is the $US4,300 ($AU6,830) Tag Heuer Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition Chronograph, which is powered by an automatic Calibre 16 chronograph movement. The dial is covered in a race-inspired checkered pattern and three sub-dials, including one displaying the seconds with Mario on a go-kart at the 60-second mark.
The timepiece also features a dedicated date window, but instead of displaying the day of the month, it reveals a new Mario Kart power-up every day (like a star, banana peel, or Bullet Bill).
But if your love of Mario Kart knows no financial bounds, you’ll want to opt for the new Tag Heuer Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition Chronograph Tourbillon, which comes in a slightly larger 45-millimetre titanium case that uses a sapphire crystal caseback to reveal the watch’s inner movements as well as a self-winding rotor engraved with Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach silhouettes.
On the front, a large open dial at the six o’clock position reveals the timepiece’s 60-second tourbillon that rotates along with a dial featuring Mario in a go-kart being chased by Bullet Bill and a dreaded blue shell. Just 250 of the Tag Heuer Formula 1 X Mario Kart Limited Edition Chronograph Tourbillon are being made, with a gut-wrenching $US25,600 ($AU40,000) price tag.
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