More and more people - around one in four - are now turning to electronic devices like mobile phones or tablet computers to check the time, and wrist watches may soon fall out of fashion, a study has found.

According to the Daily Mail, the percentage of people preferring to check the time on mobile devices has gone up from 18 percent just a year ago.

Among people under 35, the proportion relying on digital devices for timekeeping is even higher, at four in 10, says the study by market analysts Mintel.

"As mobile phones allow consumers to do lots of things, watches need to become more technical and have multiple functions as well as telling the time, such as GPS, temperature gauge, etc," the study said.

The report, which surveyed 1,522 adults, found that in an office setting, using a watch to tell the time is seen as looking more professional, while taking out a mobile phone in a meeting was viewed as time wasting.

The Professional Jeweller magazine said watch sales were steady in Britain, but the market is split between cheap trendy timepieces and luxury brands.