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Most running watches count steps and call it coaching. Most super shoes make you faster until they don’t. TAG Heuer and New Balance just spent three years building something different: a watch that actually knows how to train you and a shoe that was literally designed on the same whiteboard. At New Balance headquarters in Boston, the brands unveiled the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E5 and FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5, an integrated training system where the watch runs TAG Heuer’s own operating system and the shoe shares its materials with the watch strap. Six New Balance running plans live directly on the watch, adapting to your schedule without subscription fees or extra apps.
The partnership revolves around Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who at 25, has already rewritten the record books, holding six of the 10 fastest 400m hurdles times in history and standing as the only woman to break 51 seconds (her world record: 50.65). She’s been with New Balance since 2018 and wears the same TAG Heuer to every major race. Instead of relying on superstition or a good-luck charm, she recognizes that this fifth-generation connected watch launching this month is different.
“They’re built for athletes who want to stay accountable, trust their plan, and keep pushing for better every single day,” she said at the Boston launch.
Look closely and you’ll see this isn’t typical co-branding, crafted with details that emerged from three years of genuine collaboration rooted in shared values and a shared obsession to give athletes—runners and golfers alike—one cohesive experience.
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The Watch: Mechanical Attitude, Digital Discipline
The fifth-generation Calibre E5 arrives in two sizes—40mm and 45mm—with the New Balance Edition exclusively offered in the smaller 40mm case. The standard line includes stainless steel options with ceramic bezels (starting at $1,500 to $1,800) and black DLC titanium variants ($2,200), while golfers get a dedicated 45mm edition with an 18-hole engraved bezel ($2,400).
The 40mm New Balance Edition stands apart in black DLC Grade 2 titanium with a sandblasted finish, featuring a domed sapphire crystal with purple and green markings, including a green New Balance logo at 6 o’clock, TAG Heuer at 12. At approximately $2,000, it includes two straps: a bi-material rubber strap with green embroidered NB logo and textile inlay from the shoe’s upper, plus an additional stretch textile strap.
Inside, TAG’s proprietary operating systems represents a massive undertaking. “We have 60 engineers in Paris developing this product, from hardware engineers to [a] software team. Everything is built in-house,” explains Eric Nadal, senior product manager. This system replaces Wear OS entirely, delivering cleaner typography, a pairing that’s five times faster than previous generations, and a Made for iPhone certification that ensures notifications, voice commands, and calls work seamlessly.
Battery life reaches 17 hours of continuous GPS running on the 45mm (12 hours on the 40mm), powered by dual-band GNSS that’s “three times faster and three times more accurate” than before. For daily use, the 45mm manages three days between charges, the 40mm two days. Fast charging delivers a full day’s power in just 30 minutes (45mm) or 40 minutes (40mm). The New Balance Edition’s signature feature: TAG Heuer’s first Comfort Cushion System, patented specifically for this collaboration. It combines flexible rubber with high-tech textile from the shoe’s upper, eliminating the micro-wobble that plagues most smartwatches during runs.
The Plans: Coaching That Adapts to Real Life
Open the app and you’ll find six New Balance plans at launch—First 10K Challenge, 5K to Half Marathon, Half Marathon Strength, and more—each personalized to your conversational pace. On the wrist, the experience transforms. After selecting your session, guided displays appear with step-by-step instructions optimized for outdoor readability. A color-coded “chasing diamond” keeps you in the target zone—green when you’re dialed in, violet when lagging, red when pushing too hard.
Custom haptics eliminate the need to check the screen: short pulses mark intervals, longer vibrations signal set changes. While specifics about the New York City Marathon integration remain under wraps—teased only as a “game” with tangible rewards—the brands’ message is clear: this is just the beginning of experiential offerings around tentpole events.
Ther brand also unveilied a dedidcated experience for golfers with the $2,400 Golf Edition (45mm only). It features redrawn course maps with enhanced clarity, GPS that’s three times faster and more accurate than previous generations, and battery life sufficient for 36 holes. The watch includes a specially engraved bezel marked with holes one through 18, plus a bi-material strap featuring golf ball dimple texture.
The Shoe: Race-Day Clarity Over Noise
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The FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5 is New Balance’s cleanest race day argument. It features PEBA-rich FuelCell foam for rebound, a full-length carbon fiber plate for snap, and a light engineered mesh upper that finally fits as the last intended. “We have everything from elite athletes like Sydney testing them, to everyday runners facing the occasional marathon or 10K. A lot of testing,” Brad Lacey, vice president of design at New Balance. “We’re taking input and trying to find the right balance—stability versus lightweight versus cushion.”
“At the end of the day, it’s race day product,” Lacey emphasizes. On test runs at the New Balance track, the v5 delivered exactly what a carbon-plated race shoe should: aggressive energy return that makes walking feel awkward but flying feel natural. The shoe is notably bouncy—more springboard than sofa—with a ride that demands forward momentum. Standing still or walking slowly, you feel the instability of the curved carbon plate and high-stack PEBA foam. But once you hit tempo pace, it all clicks. The roll-through feels automatic, each footstrike loading the plate and releasing with a snap that pushes you forward.
The shoe features an 8mm heel-to-toe drop, mesh upper with custom tongue engineering for comfort, and a durable rubber outsole for traction. Each pair includes TAG Heuer–branded sockliners and comes in co-branded packaging, completing a design that connects wrist to foot through a unified visual language. For daily miles and easy runs, runners will likely prefer something more stable and forgiving. But for tempo work, interval sessions, and race day, the v5 delivers exactly what it promises: a platform built purely for speed.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: The North Star
If you’re new to track: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is a 2x Olympic champion and world-record holder in the 400m hurdles, plus the current American record holder at 400m flat. Her hands are all over this collaboaration, anchoring the two brands she’s worked with for years.
“It’s crazy that we’re seven years in already,” she said of her New Balance partnership. With TAG Heuer, she’s developed a ritual: “I have what’s called my world-record watch. It’s the same one I wear every time,” she revealed, referring to her black TAG Heuer Link with diamonds—six world records and counting.
“I won’t sacrifice comfort,” she states plainly when discussing gear requirements. “When your feet are your life as a runner, you want something you can depend on.” This philosophy shaped the collaboration’s comfort-first innovations, from the watch’s Cushion Comfort System to the shoe’s refined upper. Yet she’s surprisingly pragmatic about technology. When asked about the watch’s features, she focused on the basics: “Being able to know my heart rate in any given moment—I forget to breathe sometimes. So it’s nice to know like, oh, you actually are stressed.” Her influence shows throughout: the on-wrist guidance that prioritizes clarity over complexity, the strap that locks down without biting during sprints, and training plans that flex for real schedules.
Taken together, this reads like a kit designed by someone who actually trains at the highest level. The watch guides rather than nags. The shoe returns energy without sacrificing form. The entire ecosystem respects that runners—even world champions—are balancing workouts with everything else. No subscription fees, no AI coaching promises, no revolutionary breakthrough claims. Just tools that work.
