MasterCard, Bulgari Bring Mobile Payments To Luxury Watches

One problem with designing futuristic technology is that many people fall into the assumption that everything must appear to be as high-tech as it actually is. Rather than acquiesce to this gray-jumpsuited, meal-in-a-pill future, MasterCard and Bulgari want to retain some old-world feel in avant-garde tech.

MasterCard, along with partners Bulgari and WISeKey, announced on Wednesday (March 16) their plans for the world’s first “intelligent mechanical luxury watch.” The Diagono Magn@sium aims to incorporate the look of high-margin timepieces with mobile payment capabilities, as well as the ability to unlock car doors and interact with other IoT-enabled objects. Sherri Haymond, senior vice president of digital payments and labs at MasterCard, believes this luxury smartwatch can satisfy big spenders’ urges to join the mobile payments revolution in style without compromising on safety and security.

“MasterCard has extended payments to a wide array of consumer products across the fashion, automotive and technology industries, giving consumers the freedom to shop using the device, accessory or wearable that is most convenient to them — with the highest level of security available,” Haymond said in a statement. “Working with Bulgari and WISeKey, we’re now able to bring these capabilities to a device that is capturing the attention — and imagination — of people in the luxury watch industry.”

While the collaborators didn’t set a precise date for the Diagono Magn@sium’s release, they did commit to a release by the end of 2016. If the luxury watch industry has been waiting for this kind of innovation, though, odds are it might be hoping for an earlier launch. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, luxury timepiece exports started the year off at a 12-month low, with 8 percent fewer wrist watches sold than Jan. 2015.

If customers see a place for mechanical watches in the age of contactless payments, though, that all could change.