Following SA's recent groundbreaking report that smartwatches are outselling Swiss watches, our wearables team (WDE service) this week attended Baselworld, in Switzerland, the world's largest watch tradeshow.

One company that shouted loud about its new product was Mondaine, a watchmaker famous for its iconic railway-clock design. The firm has launched PayChip, a removable "mini credit card" with NFC connectivity that fits into the leather strap of multiple Mondaine wristwatch models. You register with your bank, the bank posts the free PayChip to you, you slot the mini-card into the watch's wrist-strap, and you can then use PayChip to tap-and-pay wirelessly for small-ticket items like Starbucks coffee.

We think this type of slot-in design will appeal to older users, who want simplicity-of-setup and ease-of-use. However, younger, tech-savvier users are unlikely to be wowed by such basic design, and Mondaine will need a truly integrated NFC smartwatch if it wants to appeal to a cooler, younger crowd in the future.