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Fossil is an American apparel company that is best known for producing fashion watches. On the whole, these watches are of good quality and relatively inexpensive.
The brand was founded in 1984 by the two brothers Tom & Kosta Kartsotis. Originally Tom wanted to make a watch brand and was persuaded by his older brother to import branded goods from China. Something which was a lot less common in the 1980s than it is today. This led to the birth of both the Fossil brand and the Relic watch series and is still very similar to the way the company conducts business today. Funnily enough, the reason why the brand is named Fossil is because this is the nickname that the two brothers gave their father.
The main difference between now and the year in which the business began is the sheer scale of operations. Fossil is a multi-national corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange with revenues well in excess of $1 Billion.
Not only this, but Fossil is also well known for producing watches on behalf of other brands such as Diesel, Michael Kors, DKNY, Kate Spade & Armani. Fossil also outright owns the brand’s Misfit and Skagen.
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Are Fossil A Luxury Watch Brand?
No. Fossil is a fashion brand that makes watches, jewelry, handbags, and sunglasses. Although the brand is best known for its watchmaking, it certainly is not a luxury brand. Instead, Fossil is known for making fashionable watches from materials such as stainless steel with Japanese quartz movements. These watch models are mass-produced and can be purchased either online or in retail stores. There is no real scarcity, quality craftsmanship, or brand identity to say this is a luxury company.
Furthermore, Fossil regularly produces watches that are well under $200 – no luxury brand does this. In addition, the brand does not use in-house, Swiss-made movements. Nor do they use expensive materials such as pure gold, platinum, or diamonds.
This is not to disparage the Fossil brand. They are very good at what they do and are a huge produce of fashion watches for many brands within the industry. With that being said, they are nowhere close to being a luxury brand, but are instead a solid, inexpensive watchmaker.
Are Fossil Watches Worth The Money?
Fossil watches are pretty good value for money. This is because the brand has a very streamlined and vertical manufacturing process. Once the movements have been purchased from Miyota, Fossil has one of the most efficient watchmaking processes in the entire industry. This is because the company works with so many brands, they are able to benefit from economies of scale. In turn, this cost-saving production line passes on the savings to the retail stores, who in turn pass savings on to regular buyers.
In terms of movements and finishing, Fossil watches are pretty standard within the Fashion industry and neither poor, nor excellent. This can be seen in the various brands that Fossil makes watches for such as Skagen, Michael Kors, Armani & Diesel.
Overall Fossil watches are decent value because they aren’t very expensive and look aesthetically pleasing. They are usually always cheaper than the fashion brands they license and are made to a very similar finish.
You can usually find a better quality automatic watch from another brand. But in terms of a solid and fashionable quartz watch. Fossil is a good price for what you spend.
Do Fossil Watches Have Serial Numbers?
No. Fossil watches are not high-end timepieces so there is no real need for them to have serial numbers. Each Fossil watch has a model number which is usually two letters followed by 4 numbers. For example AA0000. This format is somewhat different for smartwatches but is kept for standard fashion watches.
Brands such as Daniel Wellington have serial numbers, but these are useless. If there is no way of verifying a watch serial number against a database then it doesn’t actually mean anything and can easily be counterfeited.
Where Are Fossil Watches Made?
Most Fossil watches are mass-produced in China. Fossil watches typically use Miyota (Japanese) quartz movements, but the rest of the parts are made and assembled in China. The same can be said for mechanical Fossil watches, these also contain Miyota automatic movements, but the cases are assembled in China. This is very common and a lot of other brands follow this practice as it drives down the cost for the consumer.
Unlike other fashion brands, Fossil is the producer of Fossil watches. Whilst other brands pay Fossil to make their watches for them. Fossil own the production lines and factories that manufacture all of these watches.
It should be noted that higher-end models made by Fossil will contain Swiss movements and be assembled in Switzerland. These watches are very easy to identify since they will say “Swiss made” or “Swiss movement” on the bottom position of the dial.
Are Fossil Watches Good?
Overall we can see that Fossil watches are very average. In terms of movements used, the brand is very unremarkable and similar to almost every other fashion brand (using Miyota quartz).
In terms of design, Fossil are actually pretty decent. They produce some unique looking watches and do not simply copy the designs of other brands.
The Best Fossil Watches
Mens
Grant
The most popular Fossil men’s watch is the Grant – and we can see why. This watch combines a modern look with a classic design and is not too loud and showy. In addition to this, the watch is available in a variety of dial and case colors, as well as the strap being interchangeable with many other Fossil bands, you can customize your watch to whatever specifications you want.
Not only this, but the Grant is one of the inexpensive Fossil watches and can often be found on sale for under $100. Compared to other fashion watches, this is a pretty good price. It’s not a groundbreaking bargain but does at least offer good quality and good value for money.
Machine
The aptly named Fossil Machine is a masculine chronograph watch. Both the bezel and the chronograph pushers have a serrated edge which adds to the durability and the machine-like feel of the overall design. Even though the watch is relatively large, it does not wear too big since the case is somewhat squared off towards the lugs. Available in around 5 different colors, the most masculine of which is black, there are some models with softer colored dials if desired.
Townsman Automatic
Using the popular open heart dial, the townsman shows its automatic movement which can also be viewed from the rear exhibition caseback. Although this is only a standard Miyota mechanical watch, it is a decent price and pretty much one of the least inexpensive automatics you can buy for this quality. Granted, you may find slightly better value from Citizen or Orient, but they will not have the same level of fashion design as Fossil.
Decker
The decker is a classic Fossil design that keeps being re-released due to its popularity. The main features are a circular seconds hand which provides a nice and unique difference to other masculine chronograph watches. It should be noted that due to the size of crown and chronograph pushers, this watch wears fairly large when worn on the wrist and is not for skinny forearms.
Minimalist
Available in a variety of colors, the minimalist is pretty much exactly what it says. Although the pictured model has a moonphase with a striking green dial, this combination is pretty unusual as most of the Fossil minimalist watches do not have a moonphase indicator.
If you’re looking for a watch that is both smart and casual, the minimalist is ideal. It’s inexpensive and can be worn both at work and on weekends without looking out of place. Yes, the watch is quite simplistic and isn’t going to turn any heads, but it does exactly what it’s meant to do.
Womens
Jacqueline
One of the best-selling Fossil watches is the Jacqueline. The main reasons for this are that the watch is suitable for all occasions, both smart and casual. Not only this, but when the watch is on sale you can pick it up for less than $100, which is quite a bargain for an elegant branded watch. Usually, you will have to pay around 50% more than this unless you pick a style you don’t want.
Available in a variety of colors, you are also able to choose between different bands such as heavy stainless steel or a light Milanese strap. Lastly, Fossil offers free engraving at participating Fossil stores when you purchase online.
Smartwatch
Fossil are another brand that has partnered with Google to use their WearOS as the watch’s hardware. This only really brings benefits since there are no compatibility issues and you’re able to easily sync your watch with apps such as Google pay and Google fit. Each watch comes with both a steel and silicon strap, so you’re able to pick whether you want more of a sports-style watch or something that can be worn day-to-day.
The main thing that differentiates Fossil smartwatches from other smartwatches is the design. Unlike fitness watches, this won’t look out of place if you wear it to work, or out in a restaurant. When the screen powers off it looks like a regular watch.
Land Racer
The land racer gives a modern twist on a classic design. Women’s watches have become bigger over the last few decades. Although this watch is not oversized, it is reasonably big at 38mm, although has a small crown and pushers, so does not wear too big on the wrist.
The bottom subdial measures seconds elapsed using the chronograph function, whilst the top dial displays the minutes.
Annette
Quite a minimalist watch, the Annette has quite a standard-sized dial (36mm) but is pretty thin and has very tiny lugs. This allows the wearer to wear a very light and almost unnoticeable watch, yet still have a standard-sized and easily readable dial.
Other than this, the watch does not need too much explanation. It isn’t oversized, nor does it have a busy dial with various complications. Hovering just above the 6 o’clock position is the Fossil logo.
Riley
The Fossil Riley is both sparkly and subtle at the same time. Due to the understated color scheme of the watch, the stones around the bezel are not too noticeable unless you’re moving the watch under a light. The same can be said for the diamante hour indicators around the inside of the dial.
On the subdials, you are able to set both the day of the week and the day of the month which can be adjusted by pulling the crown outwards one click. This is a nice feature instead of a date wheel and equally as easy to read.
