Fossil Spring/Summer 1995 Catalog
Greetings all! New catalog scan available now in the Galleries section of the site. Please say hello to Fossil's 1995 Spring & Summer Catalog....oh and did I mention it's in German? Enjoy
A Breakfast Just for the Fossil Collector
Do you like breakfast? How about a road trip? Obviously you like Fossil -- put all three together and you have the Fossil Collector's Breakfast. Started in 1993, these annual breakfasts were the place for collectors to gather and see Limited Editions, get free goodies and obviously get a breakfast. From the notes I have they took place in November every year at least through 1997 and almost always were in Nashville, Tennessee. I don't know about you, but Nashville is a wonderful city and it's only an 8 hour drive me...wink wink nudge nudge Fossil! Let's bring these back!
I'm going through several old Fossil Times newsletters at the moment and will have more info on the breakfasts as I find them and also other Collectors Events that happened already :(
Below are 2 scans from 1996 and 1998. The 1996 issue talks about the 4th Annual Collector's breakfast on November 23, 1996 and the 1998 scan talks about the breakfast that took place on November 22, 1997. Anybody ever attend one of these? I WOULD LOVE to see pictures and so would our readers. Reach out to me!
Apparently we missed out on this
think Tom still has the Roy & Dale Limited Edition watches? He's waiting for you.
Fossil Swiss
A few weeks ago we featured the most valuable limited edition Fossil watch, the Greatest. On the coat-tails of some great feedback on the article I wanted to write about the most expensive Fossil watches to date: the Fossil Swiss.
Launched in early 2013 the Fossil Swiss caused ripples and discussions with watch people and Fossil fans right away. Why is Fossil doing launching a $695-$995 range of Swiss made watches? Who would buy such an expensive Fossil watch? Why are they doing this? These questions are still being asked and I admit it I was part of that camp originally. The day I saw the announcement on Twitter I was following #fossilswiss to see all the details because honestly I couldn't believe it.
Fossil is no stranger to Swiss if you know some of the companies that are part of the Fossil Group. Even earlier than that some of our beloved Defenders had a Swiss Quartz movement, which is different from saying Swiss Made. Swiss Quartz is essentially having the movement meeting Swiss Made standards, but the watch most likely was assembled outside of Switzerland to save costs.
Today Fossil has a design center in the heart of watch making country in Switzerland. One article I read said it's across the street from the Rolex SA factory! It's an interesting strategy to watch and if & when you think in terms of Fossil being a global brand, the allure of having a Swiss made watch isn't necessarily for those of us located in the United States (yet), it's for Asia. The majority of Fossil's watches are Asian made and Asians aren't attracted to Asian made watches. Having the term Swiss Made is a no-brainer for Fossil to market upscale products to the ever increasing and particular Asian customer. Who better than to launch a more attractively priced Swiss Made watch than Fossil?
I can't help but think of Buick here in the United States in comparison. Although perceptions of Buick are changing here in the USA, you still have stereotypes of who owns a Buick, but over in China it's the luxury car to have and aspire to. On a recent trip to China I was SHOCKED to see so many Buicks on the road that didn't look like a Buick. It's a great example of a global company knowing it's local markets and it's the same for Fossil. Buick over here is just a Buick, but over in China it's a status symbol -- same could be said with having Swiss Made on the watch vs. Made in China for the Asian consumer.
Recently I took one of my Fossil Swiss watches over to my local Fossil store and the team there gathered around the watch because they've never seen one in the wild before, I even got a handshake from one of the associates who thanked me for bringing it in. Experiences like this and reading articles on watch sites/magazines, I would bet that the majority of sales of these watches do take place in Asia. Anyways I didn't mean to go into a dissertation on it, but as a marketing person I'm fascinated with strategies like this and obviously I'm watching this closely and hoping it pays off for Fossil in Asia and hopefully in the USA. For me being a Fossil nut, I'm proud to finally say I own a legitimate Swiss Made timepiece that didn't cost me thousands of dollars and maybe even a possible divorce for spending that kind of money on a timepiece.
I don't normally go into reviews and discussions around movements and the same will be said today. I'm a fan of great design and currently I own 2 Fossil Swiss watches, both of them are the larger 45MM case. Fossil does offer an automatic Swiss Made watch, but the 38MM case is a little small for my tastes at least for the price point.
I really enjoy these watches and honestly of all the Fossil watches I own, the FSW7000 is the one I find myself staring at every time I wear it. To me it's perfect and it does draw comments and second glances whenever I wear it. Well done Fossil - keep it up!
A little bonus video from the Youtube archives.
AN ANNUAL REPORT YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO READ - Fossil 2000
Have you ever been excited to read an annual report? I mean really excited to drill into the numbers, forecasts and stock overviews? No you haven't? I'm not surprised, BUT let me introduce you to an annual report that will actually change your mind.
Introducing Fossil's Annual Report from the year 2000. I heartily advise you however to glaze over the financials and look at just the artwork. I've been looking for this report for years (in paper format) to scan for the site and I recently discovered that it's already posted online on www.fossilgroup.com. I've uploaded the PDF to this post just for you to review and keep in case one day it disappears from Fossil's site. If you look on Page 21 you'll see a certain gentleman that's been part of this site since the very beginning.
I've always called him Ward, but I knew I liked him back in 2010 and apparently he's been a Fossil fan since 2000. Thanks Ward!
Ward says this is amazing.
As a bonus I've included a photo of yours truly looking at the paper copy of the Fossil 2000 Annual Report on a recent trip I took to the Fossil World Headquarters near Dallas, Texas. I don't always read annual reports, but when I do it's a Fossil Annual Report from 2000 with stellar artwork and funny little graphics. More on that trip in days to come.
By clicking on the image below you'll be able to download the entire 2000 Annual Report. Enjoy the show!
The most valuable Fossil Limited Edition - "The Greatest"
Running a collectors site you run into 2 questions almost on a daily basis.
- How can I get or how do I find more information on "xyz" Fossil item?
- How much is my "xyz" Fossil item worth?
Rarely do we talk about prices and item values on this site, but all experts will agree that the most valuable of the early Fossil Limited Editions is the LI-2004 Muhammad Ali Limited Edition Collector's Watch Set. "The Greatest" is the fourth limited edition in the licensed watches that Fossil started in 1992 -- the licensed watches include all the NFL and NBA watches.
"The Greatest" came out in August 1994 and only 7500 were produced - original retail price was $200, which at the time was the most expensive limited edition that came out. $200 is a good deal today. The item is packaged in a nicely designed wooden box with a glass top that showcases the 6"x7" autographed photo of Ali/Liston championship fight on May 25, 1965. The Ali signature is done in a silver paint pen which will not fade over time.
Once inside the cherry display box, you'll find the watch. A Fossil coin dial watch with Ali's face is on it with the words "3 Time World Champion". The watch does have a unique tin obviously made just for this set. Fossil was also nice enough to include a COA.
A lot of times you'll see just the watch listed on eBay and the prices aren't that different from other Fossil limited pieces; however when you place the watch in the cherry display box with the autographed photo the price goes way up! Years ago it wasn't uncommon to see these sell on eBay for $600-$800. I've been watching these for some time (because I want to sell mine) and recently sold sets are selling in the $350-$500 range. One thing you need to remember about eBay is asking price and sold price are 2 different things -- so many sellers are asking $695, $899 and even one now for $1,199.95 and unless you're not all there you can find them much cheaper (on the same site).
Obviously we're being a bit cheeky, but as a Fossil Watch collector you should be against full-blown retail priced buy it nows on eBay -- be smart, do your research and save the extra money for more watches!
Now enjoy some pictures of "The Greatest"
Fossil Defender: some DF series scans
If you've spent anytime on this site, you'll know all about our love here for the Fossil Defender series. Launched in the mid-90's the original DE series had 43 watches ranging from DE-1500 thru 1544, skipping a few in between including 1529 & 1530.
The next series of Defender watches were the DF series. In total there were 24 of these watches released and you can tell they were a different animal as far as design and build quality from the DE. In some of my research I've seen it mentioned that the Defender series was actually designed and assembled by Zodiac before Fossil bought them in 2001. Fossil was trying to have a higher end watch series to compete with a higher price point. I can't confirm it's true, but this could explain why some of the DF series watches retailed for $395, which is a far cry from the $150 for the DE-1527, which was the highest priced of the original DE series.
Of course we all know Fossil recently has relaunched the Defender series and we couldn't be happier. The interchangeable straps are brilliant and I'm always looking for the new straps to mix mine up....we'll call it the DEC series for now and later on we'll get them added to our guides.
Onto the scans! Recent events had made me realize how rare these booklets are that came in the DF series boxes. One of our Defender gurus, Adam has graciously scanned the booklet from one of his and I just love the writing on these scans -- it's so serious and reminds me of a certain catalog that Elaine wrote for on Seinfeld. Bonus bullet points below breaking down the series in case you're collecting them all.
- Spitfire 1000 Series: DF-1001 thru 1012
- Spinnaker 2000 Series: DF-2001 thru 2002
- Streamliner 3000 Series: DF-3001 thru 3004
- Avion 4000 Series: DF-4001 thru 4002
- Starboard 5000 Series: DF-5001 thru 5004
Fossil Times: the importance of a newsletter
Back in the 80's my friends and I had a Def Leppard club. We signed our names in a notebook and listened to Hysteria on loop as we swung on the swingset in my friend's backyard. One thing the Def Leppard club didn't have and it led to its demise was a newsletter. Yes a tangible newsletter filled with Def Leppard goodness and mailed to it's members on semi-regular basis -- this would have been key to keeping the club alive!
One of the reasons the Fossil Collectors Club is still around albeit via fans is because of the Fossil Times newsletter that I found a few years ago when I purchased the 1995 Collectors Club kit on eBay. As my family grows and the clutter is creeping like The Blob into every room of our house I almost forgot I had this issue until this past week when I started digging through my collection.
From 1994 to 1998 the Fossil Collectors Club mailed out 3-4 issues a year to it's collectors. The newsletters had all the Fossil goodness you would expect including spotlight characters, limited edition release information, sneak previews and even one that announced the upcoming Defender line - xoxo.
Any good collectors newsletter should feature the collector of the month and the Fossil Times did that too. We should start one here. Our Facebook group is growing and some of the members have more watches than I do! Something to consider....
For your visual enjoyment I have scanned this issue of the Fossil Times that started it all. Volume 1 Issue 3 circa 1994. My only question is what happened to Larry Clark?
Fossil Watch commercial circa 1991
Occasionally we all find ourselves going down the Youtube rabbit hole in search of internet gold. The video below is a plethora of early Fossil advertising, 90's watches and swinging sounds and I had to share!
Fossil Retro Pilot Series
Vintage aviation is cool. The pilots back in the 40's looked cool and I know that wasn't the intent, but still that look is timeless and countless modern day brands have tried to capitalize on it. I've bought into it and if you Google military watch or pilot's watch, the results are endless. Who hasn't fallen down that wormhole a few times?
Fossil back in 1988 came out with the Retro-Pilot series of watches. This could very much be one of the first collections or series of watches they created. Due to the age of these watches or possibly lower production numbers they are not common - I've only seen several watches show up online in recent years. The watches I have don't even have model numbers or years on the back, but they did have model numbers and I've included them below with the images. In total there were 22 watches featured in this collection and they ranged from Paratrooper, Navy Diver and various pilot themed watches all with leather bands.
A few details is that the cases on the 2 I've had both measured 37MM, which is really small. The bands were 18MM and embossed on the leather band is Fossil Air.
Rumor has it Fossil is soon to return to these roots with a Vintage Aviation Series in 2015. Regardless enjoy the several watches I've found. I wouldn't categorize them all as pilot watches, but they are "distinct and unconventional as those daring aviators that inspired them".
Fossil postcards - Round 2
Hard to believe it's been about 2 years since we last posted the first round of Fossil postcards. I wanted to send this off as a Christmas gift for 2014. 3 more cards from the archives.
Screenshots below with the URL for a Photoshop file (.psd)
