One of many weirdest, most surprising watch collabs of the 12 months arrived in October when TAG Heuer dropped a pair of System 1 chronographs devoted to the world of Mario Kart. It wasn’t the primary collaboration between the elite Swiss watchmaker and the basic Nintendo franchise (they’ve debuted a Mario-themed model of TAG’s Linked smartwatch up to now) however this launch, fronted by a $25k chronograph full with tiny Marios and Koopa shells racing round its tourbillon cage, took it to an entire new degree of sophistication.
Not solely did the TAG Heuer System 1 x Mario Kart reveal that the Venn diagram of watch collectors and Mario Kart followers boasts important overlap, it confirmed that many could be glad to drop five-figure sums on a chronograph festooned with their favourite characters. However for anybody who missed out on that sold-out drop (or doesn’t fancy spending the value of a brand new Honda Accord on an adjunct), there’s one other Nintendo collab that may fill the Mario-shaped gap in your jewellery field: the G-Shock DW5600SMB-4.
Designed in live performance with the artistic geniuses at Nintendo, this collab brings collectively two titans of Eighties tech for the primary time: the Casio G-Shock and the unique Tremendous Mario Bros. recreation. Launched in 1983 and 1985, respectively, each the G-Shock and Tremendous Mario Bros. revolutionized their industries, and each manufacturers are nonetheless on the high of their recreation practically 40 years later. Based mostly on the 1987 G-Shock 5600, whose basic boxy appears to be like have aged like a classic Bordeaux, the brand new G-Shock DW5600SMB-4 is decked out within the distinctive brown and pink colour palette of the unique Goomba-stomping plumber. Different particulars, just like the dial’s classic online game font, a strap emblazoned with a pixelated Mario motif, and a backlight that reveals Mario frozen in mid-1-Up victory, are certain to attraction to anybody who remembers the times when 8-bit gaming was king.
Given the success of TAG Heuer and Nintendo’s first two outings collectively, you’ll be able to wager that extra Tremendous Mario collabs are within the works. Likewise, you’ll be able to anticipate different watchmakers to observe go well with, snapping up basic Eighties gaming IP to include into their timepieces. Till then, the brand new G-Shock x Tremendous Mario Bros. affords every part the watch-loving gamer wants for $150— which can depart loads of room within the finances for Seiko x Zelda, Timex x Donkey Kong, or no matter different must-have drops the brightest minds in watchmaking give you within the new 12 months.
