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My research shows that the Apple Watch can:

* Track fitness and health using several baked-in, wrist-facing sensors
* Get iPhone notifications. (Yes, an iPhone is, of course, required for this watch)
* Talk to other Apple Watches
* Pick up your heart rate using LEDs and sensors
* Pay for goods with your watch at numerous nationwide stores (thanks to Near Field Communication technology)
* Trigger actions or dictate messages via Siri
* Change watch faces
* Run a variety of functions, like maps for turn-by-turn navigation or a communicator tool that lets you connect directly with friends’ Apple watches
* Display your favorite photos
* Tweet from your wrist
* See airline flight information
* Unlock a hotel room door by waving the device (Starwood)
* Run widget-like customizable bits of info showing things like calendar data and music info (which actually smacks a bit of Android Wear)
* Get notification vibrations using a so-called “taptic engine”

But can it keep time? That’s what I want to know!

But can it keep time? That’s what I want to know!

Quite accurately, using the atomic clock at a Naval Observatory. . . And that's to 50 milliseconds per year.

Your list omitted:

Receive MMS and regular messages from any source.
Respond to MMS and regular text messages to any destination with either a selection of set messages or dictated text messages or audio messaging.
Receive from anyone or Initiate iPhone calls from anyone in your contacts on the watch and conduct conversations with out taking the iPhone out.
Do Internet searches using SIRI.
Make reservations using SIRI.
Set appointments, meetings, and dates on all of your integrated calendars across all Apple Devices, and extend invitations to all persons you wish to invite to meetings, parties, etc., using SIRI.
Ask SIRI for directions to any location by address or type of business and receive directions quietly by means of pulses on your wrist.
Draw simple graphics and send them to another Apple Watch wearer instantly in multiple colors.
Send Emoji character indications of your feelings, thoughts, etc. to another Apple Watch wearer instantly in multiple colors.
Customize Watch faces to include data you desire to see when glancing at the Apple Watch.
Customize what data you want to be notified about.
See current weather for your location and instantly for any location you set for other areas.
See stock quotes for companies you are following.
Control your home security system remotely.
Open and close your garage doors and other remotes doors.
Use the Apple Watch as a remote shutter release for the iPhone Camera.
Use the Apple Watch as a remote control for your AppleTV to select channels, pause, fast forward, reverse, select movies, control Netflix, etc.
Control iHeart Radio on my iPhone and play the radio station through the Apple Watch. . . listening to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin is cool.
Control all of your music library and playlists from the Apple Watch, and play the music through the Apple Watch.
Put your Apple Watch in night/privacy mode.
Set the Apple Watch in power saving mode.
Send your heart beat to your significant other who receives it on their Apple watch.

Contrary to what you implied in your post, most of the basic communications does not require the message recipient to have an Apple Watch, and you can communicate with any phone or standard, non-proprietary messaging system.