A little chat at a flick of the wrist

"TIME will reveal everything," said Euripides. "It is a babbler and speaks even when not asked." It seems the world's largest watch manufacturer, Swatch, has taken him at his word and have come up with the first wristwatch which doubles as a telephone.

Obviously, a watch which simply tells the time is not good enough anymore. For those worrying if they have enough time to talk, the Swatch Talk watch, which will be launched in Britain at a date yet to be announced, is the latest development from the cheap and cheerful brand which has already integrated pagers into watches and developed the world's thinnest watch, Swatch Skin.

The Swatch Talk has a speaker and microphone built into the side and works in the same way as a digital cordless phone. The numbers on the face are touch sensitive and double as the telephone dial numbers.

"It is totally new technology," said a spokesman yesterday.

For those worried about looking stupid, the watch is powerful enough to keep your wrist at a distance from your face. The price is not fixed at the moment, but Swatch says it is affordable and it is thought to be around pounds 213.