It all started with the notion to collect more accessories.  I looked at necklaces, rings, and bracelets till the idea came to me to invest in a nice watch.  I navigated to Sak’s and Nordstrom’s and found their watch department.  Knowing that many designers farm out their creation to third parties, I decided to see who was behind these designer watches.

In a word, Fossil.

Fossil has been very successful with its own brands and this success has led to companies coming to Fossil to create licensed watch lines. The licensed watch lines that Fossil designs, manufactures, and distributes include Burberry, DKNY, Emporio Armani, Columbia Sportswear, Diesel, Frank Gehry, Philippe Starck, Michael Kors, Callaway Golf, Davis Cup, Marc Jacobs and Adidas. When referencing Fossil’s watch lines, they are generally regarded as a “manufacturer”; However, Fossil only assembles watches, using pre-made movements and only designing the cases and dials of the watch.

Fossil Inc on Wikipedia

Growing up I worked in a jewelry store.  We had both an in-house jeweler and a watch-maker.  Anything bought at the store, we could probably fix.  We even repaired other stores’ jewelry and watches.  Except Fossil.  We gave a disclaimer that if we pop the back off a Fossil watch, we would not be responsible for any damage done.

At first I couldn’t believe that these designer watches, global branding adhered, could be manufactured by Fossil.   Fossil, after all, is respected in the business community for being a company that sells a $65 tin with a free watch inside.  I started digging a little deeper and asking questions.  Watch blogger Mitch Greenblatt (watchismo) confirmed my suspicions.

Yes, many brand names use incredibly inexpensive parts, movements, and modules sourced by chinese/japanese co’s.  Most are just cheap quartz but quartz is very dependable time-wise.  Most people don’t care what’s inside… even more don’t understand what can be inside.  Read my blog further for a variety of modern brands that build the mechanical equivalent to a sports car on a wrist.  The mass market brand names are just generally only about the name, nothing else.

Watch collectors have a name for these kinds of watches, fashion watches.  Fashion watches are bought for looks, not performance or quality.  They keep good time, and may last a few years, but generally not for generations like quality time-pieces.  A fashion watch you buy because you like the design.

However, the repeated advice is, if you like it, who cares.