[Longitude]

As a young urbanite Fossil watches have always appealed to my more stylish side. I'm curious to know if any of you have reflections on the build quality of their mechanical offerings?

I realize that since they are style focused, there is an inevitable obsolescence:-d

 

[Z-FREAK]

As a young urbanite Fossil watches have always appealed to my more stylish side. I'm curious to know if any of you have reflections on the build quality of their mechanical offerings?

I realize that since they are style focused, there is an inevitable obsolescence:-d

FOSSIL makes a great watch for the money. They don't pretend to be something they aren't!

Mechanicals are Chinese but work well...

 

[NoDecoDiver]

I have a Fossil quartz that's been going strong since 1997.

I don't know that I would call them "high quality" watches, and I certainly wouldn't pay more than 50$ for most models they make, but outside of that, I think they are acceptable.

If I see one I like I just wait for Macy's or Dillard's to have the big sales and pick them up for 20-40$.

 

[Lemaniac40]

Fossil, Relic and Zodiac represent one of the biggest Bang for the Buck watches on the market...

Cheers.:-!

 

[H3O+]

I can't really say I've ever been impressed by a Fossil... anemic pushers, crappy bracelets, bad finishes. I own two. There are much better watches for the money
That said, they do have some styling designs. And the one leather strap of their that I had seemed to be of good quality. They make some quality leather wares, so that stands to reason.

 

[jporos]

Fossils are O.K.

Chinese movement, not the greatest quality dial or even legibility, the month indicator has to be manually set, but what do you expect for under $100? Just a fun knock-around watch. That said, the strap quality is very good.

 

[TNT13]

Fossil makes some unique watches you won't find anywhere else. If you like the look of a particular watch, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. You get what you pay for. Which is more than can be said for some other watch brands.

 

[gi-george]

I have mine now for eleven years
and i never had any issues with it.
the services in my local fossil store is great as well.
they never charge anything for putting new spring bars on the watch
(i wear it loose, so the bracelet often bends...)

 

[AAWATCHES]

I have a couple, i wear one once in a blue moon, they are well made for the price paid and have unique styling...

 

[halfapie]

As a young urbanite Fossil watches have always appealed to my more stylish side. I'm curious to know if any of you have reflections on the build quality of their mechanical offerings?

I realize that since they are style focused, there is an inevitable obsolescence:-d

They are okay for the price you pay ($50~$100).

The movements inside the watch are the most economical movements you will ever find, made in the cheapest way possible. BUT they should keep okay time so if you like the look of the watch, why not?

As far as build quality, I find the build quality of my $70 Seiko is far superior to an equivalent Fossil.

Once you pass the $100 mark, I find other watchmakers more appealing. Of course Seiko and Citizen don't have the crazy styles that Fossil offers, so if that's what you want you should go for it. A fossil will still tell you the time.

 

[visitor]

I can't really say I've ever been impressed by a Fossil... anemic pushers, crappy bracelets, bad finishes. I own two. There are much better watches for the money
That said, they do have some styling designs. And the one leather strap of their that I had seemed to be of good quality. They make some quality leather wares, so that stands to reason.

I totally disagree. I have had NOTHING but good luck with fossils, and I cannot think of a watch I would rather have in the 35-50 dollar price bracket. Will agree the bracelets could be better, but again at the price range....

They are okay for the price you pay ($50~$100).

The movements inside the watch are the most economical movements you will ever find, made in the cheapest way possible. BUT they should keep okay time so if you like the look of the watch, why not?

As far as build quality, I find the build quality of my $70 Seiko is far superior to an equivalent Fossil.

Once you pass the $100 mark, I find other watchmakers more appealing. Of course Seiko and Citizen don't have the crazy styles that Fossil offers, so if that's what you want you should go for it. A fossil will still tell you the time.

Seiko has tons of ugly styles, cannot find a single one I even remotely like.

 

[Foxglove]

I wouldn't go there.

I had a couple fossils growing up and they fell apart and wore out easily. The metal wasn't stainless steel even (or something wore off). You can get a lot better for the same or less money.

~Ross

 

[H3O+]

I totally disagree. I have had NOTHING but good luck with fossils, and I cannot think of a watch I would rather have in the 35-50 dollar price bracket. Will agree the bracelets could be better, but again at the price range....

I'm not saying that all Fossils suck. I'm just saying that the ones I have experience with have less than impressed me. The finishes left much to be desired. The pushers for the chronographs were sponge-like. The bracelet pinched, felt cheap, and broke. The chrono second did not return to zero.
What they did, and do offer, is quality leather straps and unique, cool designs. My watches tend to be more conservatively/ classically styled, and for the money (sub $100) I would rather have something from Timex, Casio, Seiko, Citizen, Orient, Swiss Army, or any number of homage manufacturers. You, on the other hand, might not like designs from any of those companies. To each his own.
Also, my perception of Fossil might have suffered from buying them at a Fossil AD in the mall. I most likely paid too much.
For example, I paid $65 for a cushion-case Fossil quartz. I could have paid $65 for:

 

[teg33]

Well, what do you expect from Fossil, overall finish not so good, below par i might say. Movement mostly chinese, nothing wrong with chinese movement. The problem was the quality of the movement Fossil using was the standard ones.

 

[Beau8]

i wouldn't go there.

I had a couple fossils growing up and they fell apart and wore out easily. The metal wasn't stainless steel even (or something wore off). You can get a lot better for the same or less money.

|>

~ross

i'm not saying that all fossils suck. I'm just saying that the ones i have experience with have less than impressed me. The finishes left much to be desired. The pushers for the chronographs were sponge-like. The bracelet pinched, felt cheap, and broke. The chrono second did not return to zero.
What they did, and do offer, is quality leather straps and unique, cool designs. My watches tend to be more conservatively/ classically styled, and for the money (sub $100) i would rather have something from timex, casio, seiko, citizen, orient, swiss army, or any number of homage manufacturers. You, on the other hand, might not like designs from any of those companies. To each his own.
Also, my perception of fossil might have suffered from buying them at a fossil ad in the mall. I most likely paid too much.
For example, i paid $65 for a cushion-case fossil quartz. I could have paid $65 for:

+1 ;-)

 

[jayw654]

Well, what do you expect from Fossil, overall finish not so good, below par i might say. Movement mostly chinese, nothing wrong with chinese movement. The problem was the quality of the movement Fossil using was the standard ones.

Movement is actually excellent and the movement is Japanese and not Chinese and yes it does make a HUGE difference. Chinese is junk and Japanese is very good and up there with the low-end Citizen model watches. Japanese movement is comparable to the the average grade of Swiss movement. That said the top-end Swiss movement will beat Fossil. Fossils are far better than most think.

 

[sirgilbert357]

I'm not saying that all Fossils suck. I'm just saying that the ones I have experience with have less than impressed me. The chrono second did not return to zero.

On most Chrono Fossils, if you pull the crown out one position and press the "Start" button for the chrono, it will advance the seconds counter one click. Do this until it gets to the "0" mark and push the crown back in. Viola, it now re-centers when you use it. For years, my chrono was off by one second and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt like the whole watch was now junk. I found this feature totally by accident one day when I had the crown out setting the time. I promptly did a facepalm and now feel better about the watch, lol. It's going on 12 years old and in that time, Fossil has replaced my movement once and the crystal once. They also swapped out my battery. All of this and I paid only 18 bucks (movement was under warranty, the 18$ covered shipping, new battery and new crystal). I'd say they make good watches for the money provided you don't pay more than 100 bucks. I was impressed with their customer service, so I'd rate them pretty highly for a fashion brand....

 

[Skeptical]

Movement is actually excellent and the movement is Japanese and not Chinese and yes it does make a HUGE difference. Chinese is junk and Japanese is very good and up there with the low-end Citizen model watches. Japanese movement is comparable to the the average grade of Swiss movement. That said the top-end Swiss movement will beat Fossil. Fossils are far better than most think.

Bold statement, my friend

 

[9573]

Movement is actually excellent and the movement is Japanese and not Chinese and yes it does make a HUGE difference. Chinese is junk and Japanese is very good and up there with the low-end Citizen model watches. Japanese movement is comparable to the the average grade of Swiss movement. That said the top-end Swiss movement will beat Fossil. Fossils are far better than most think.

Oh boy. Your first post at wus, and you resurrected a dead 3 year old thread. And you think you are going to "explain" how good Fossil watches are... of course a "top-end swiss movement will beat fossil." Of course. Fossil makes $50 fashion watches with their main audience being teenagers. And I'd really watch the "chinese junk" comments. You have no idea how wrong you are.

 

[jayw654]

I never said they were top of the line and nor did I say they were right on par with top of the line Swiss movement as not all Swiss movement is top of the line. As with any maker there are different grades of quality and I was putting it with average grade Swiss movement. I also was correct in stating that they use Japanese Quartz movement and btw so does Citizen brand watches as most if not all of the Eco-Drive watches use Japanese Quartz movement. However, as for the Citizen Signature series well that's a different story. Citizen is known for its good accuracy and uses Japanese movement and Fossil also uses Japanese movement so which is better? Probably the Citizen but I have no real reference to go on. How much better?, probably not much. Heck they could actually be sporting the same quality movement as for example I worked in a factory where I was making alcohol we had two brands of vodka that was being produced off the same line and one was generic called "Papa Vodka" and the other was "Smirnoff Vodka" do you know which was better? Well actually they are both the same and the only different was the label, bottle, and price.