When it comes to buying fashionable watches and accessories, there are hundreds of retail and online stores and companies to choose from.
With the advent of online shopping, and especially Amazon, the possibilities seem endless.
However, brand quality and cost differ greatly when it comes to watches, bags, and other accessories.
Something might have a great price and be readily available, but the quality often suffers.
Plus, it’s not just product quality that goes into making a good brand.
Work environment, customer service, reliability, company values, and responsibility are also important things to consider.
Is Fossil A Good Brand? (10 Reasons It Is)
1. Quality
Fossil watches are synonymous with uniqueness and quality.
Some watch companies specialize in fashion and some focus on quality and durability.
Fossil does both fashion and quality.
With dozens of styles to choose from, you can surely find one that fits your personality.
As opposed to spreading themselves too thin, today, Fossil concentrates on the products they know best: watches, jewelry, and leather goods.
Because Fossil knows watches well by now, they’re able to give their customers the best product for an affordable price.
Many of their watches are so durable that you can wear them anywhere, including under water, mountain climbing, or playing basketball.
Fossil only uses materials from trusted sources, ensuring their customers receive the finest quality finished product.
The company is always ahead of the curve in watch fashion and technology as well.
They now sell smartwatches and hybrid smartwatches that are powered by Google.
These stylish watches connect to your Android phone through Bluetooth.
You can control music, receive alerts, reply to texts, and answer calls all from your watch.
Each watch and generation of the smartwatch is a bit different in technical specs, but they all come with that built-in Fossil quality.
Smartwatches also allow wearers to control their smart home devices, like your Nest system, remote starting your Toyota vehicles, and making contactless payments through Google Pay, all while keeping track of your fitness performance.
When it comes to keys to the company’s success, President of Fashion Watch Brands, Richard Gundy says:
“I think it has to do with the quality we put in… The leather products are very high quality. The watch has a feel and a look that sets it apart. I think that customers can identify with Fossil products.”
It’s true.
Customers associate Fossil with quality and style.
2. Wide Variety Of Unique Styles
Fossil watches are simply unique and timeless.
With the company’s retro style, Fossil “prides itself on its commitment to American vintage inspiration.”
These are not the average, traditional-looking watches many people are used to.
You don’t need to sacrifice style to get a quality watch.
Their Texas design team produces thousands of designs each year, making each Fossil watch a statement piece designed to draw attention and feel good.
In fact, Fossil’s Vice President of Watch Product Development, Shannon Washburn, states:
“We are a creative marketing company with a very commercial base. Fossil designs product that is directional in the market and offers a great fashion look and value to our customer. Being first to market and setting a fashion direction is what sets us apart.”
Many retail companies only offer one or two types of options, and those choices usually target either men, women, or children.
Fossil takes all genders and ages into consideration, featuring women’s and men’s watch lines, as well as men’s and women’s bags, jewelry, watches, and wallets.
They make sure to encompass all people and personalities through their variety of options.
Though Fossil has pared down their offerings since the early 2000s, they still offer several quality products for their customers.
From sporty to sophisticated to outdoorsy, Fossil has their customers covered.
Their watch bands range in material from leather to stainless steel to silicone, while watch faces come in all shapes and sizes.
Fossil also offers their classic traditional styles, along with the innovative technology of smartwatches.
Watch faces and bands are also interchangeable so you can mix and match them to make the perfect watch for you.
Throughout the years, Fossil has been trusted with licensing rights with media partners to produce specialized watch collectibles.
Their pop culture and movie/TV designs include Star Wars, The Matrix, Superman, Batman, Elvis, Pokémon, Pirates of the Caribbean, and others.
In 2006, Fossil also created an NFL line, making different watches for each team.
If you still don’t know what you want, their website offers the service of a virtual personal shopper that can help guide you along and show you the best options for your needs.
3. Rich History
In 1984, brothers Tom and Kosta Kartsotis started a business called Overseas Products International and launched their first batch of fashion watches in 1985.
However, those fashion watches didn’t come out on the American Market until 1986.
In 1987, the brothers officially changed their company name to Fossil Inc.
First gaining traction in Texas, the popularity of Fossil watches started getting attention across the country, raking in $20 million in sales in 1989 alone.
The increase in sales is said to have been caused by marketing their watches in new decorative, trendy packaging: their signature tin and wooden boxes.
In 1990, Fossil launched their first line of leather goods in addition to their watches and opened their own section in the prime location of Macy’s.
By 1993, Fossil also sold belts, keychains, wallets, and personal organizers.
After opening up their own brick-and-mortar retail stores in 1995, they began selling sunglasses as well.
Capitalizing on their growing customer base and with help from also moving online, Fossil started selling clothing, handbags, and jewelry by 2000.
Today, Fossil concentrates on watches, handbags, sunglasses, jewelry, and other small accessories.
They currently employ almost 7,000 people full-time and have 450 company-owned retail stores in addition to 30,000 points of distribution.
They also currently have bases in 150 countries, but their corporate headquarters remain in Richardson, Texas.
4. Fossil Has A Strong Global Presence Through Multiple Companies
With the ownership of other companies worldwide, Fossil gets an upper hand in the global marketplace.
In fact, this company structure secured Fossil a spot on the S & P 500, making it one of the 500 leading publicly traded US companies.
In order to get to this point and to help better serve their customers worldwide, Fossil acquired Fostim for their Japanese clientele, Zodiac, Michele watches, Skagen Designs, Ltd., Relic, and Misfit.
In addition to business acquisition, Fossil has created global subsidiaries ensuring their growing success, including Skagen Denmark, Europe GmbH, Fossil France SARL, Fossil Italia SRL, and Fossil BV.
Fossil also has partnered with many companies including Georgio Armani, Diesel, Marc Jacobs, Adidas, Michael Kors, and DKNY.
By spreading out as much as possible, Fossil can create and sell more products efficiently to their global customers.
This also ensures customers receive the best quality items and services for their money.
Not only is Fossil concerned with selling products globally, but they have also set up programs that help underserved women and children around the world.
They aim to empower marginalized people to make a difference in their own communities and engage in global mentorship programs.
In 2012, Fossil launched the Fossil Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that focuses on helping young people across the globe succeed.
By partnering with The African Visionary Fund, Big Picture Learning, Big Thought, Centre of Catalyzing Change, Friends International, Glasswing International, and Quest Alliance, Fossil is able to invest resources, time, and experience to help vulnerable and susceptible youth around the world.
5. Personalization
Not only is Fossil devoted to giving their customers a quality and fashionable product, but they also want their customers to make it personal.
To do this, they offer free engraving and embossing on their watches, leather bags, and jewelry.
Personalizing an item makes it that much more special, a keepsake to be passed down through generations.
Fossil’s embossing service offers a number of style choices and colors.
Leather goods customers can choose a blind embossing or choose from crimson, gold, hot pink, marine, rose gold, and silver.
Font and font size will depend on the item.
Watch customers get to choose from a variety of font styles to engrave on their items and can write multiple lines, depending on size.
As with watches, Fossil jewelry customers get to make font and size choices in their customizations.
This added service makes Fossil products unique to you and also adds priceless value to your timepiece.
Engraving and embossing may tack on an additional one or two days to your wait time, but it’s well worth it.
Personalization also makes Fossil products great gift-giving options.
6. Diversity In Hiring
Many companies don’t take workplace diversity seriously or don’t consider it at all.
Others hire the bare minimum in order to fulfill expectations.
Fossil, on the other hand, is committed to hiring people of all races and genders.
According to Zippia, Fossil employees are “55.1% female and 45.0% ethnic minorities.”
Employing more than 7,500 people around the world, Fossil has a great employee retention reputation.
Instead of a high turnaround rate, which is usually a sign of poor work conditions, it’s estimated that Fossil employees stick around for more than three years on average.
Though Fossil employees are a majority white, the company consists of other ethnicities, including 22% Latino or Hispanic, 12% Black or African America, and 6% Asian.
Fossil has also been named as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ employees in 2022 by the Human Rights Campaign and has achieved a perfect score of 100% on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI).
The CEI uses markers like workforce protections, inclusive benefits, and supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility when scoring businesses.
Receiving a perfect score is not an easy feat, thus proving how seriously Fossil takes this responsibility.
By measuring factors such as gender identity, ethnic background, and language skills, Zippia also gave Fossil a 9.8 diversity score.
This ranks pretty high compared to other competing companies.
Very few companies as large as this one are female-dominated, making Fossil unique in its values and hiring practices.
It’s not only the diversity that makes Fossil a great place to work.
It’s the respect and trust their employees receive in order to do their jobs.
“Here, they hire good people and leave them alone to do their job,” says Gary Bollinger, Senior VP and Brand Manager for DKNY.
In fact, In 2013 and 2015, Fossil was voted one of the top 100 companies to work for in the UK.
7. Fossil Watches Come With A Warranty
Cheaper watch brands typically just want the sale.
They don’t care about the longevity or reliability of the product, let alone customer service.
Fossil is so confident in their watches, that they offer a one-year limited warranty, covering defects in workmanship or material.
If your watch is still under warranty, Fossil will repair or replace it free of charge.
This takes the stress of spending off the customers’ shoulders.
They can now buy with confidence.
Plus, this warranty isn’t just for watches.
It’s for other Fossil products too, including jewelry and leather products.
Fossil also offers a 90-day return policy in case you aren’t happy with your purchase for any reason.
This includes in-store or online.
8. They Give Back To Communities
Along with their partners, the Fossil Foundation focuses on community and education by providing youth with the necessary tools to learn, developing entrepreneurial skills, and teaching employability skills.
These three things help to lay a strong foundation for the future success of young people everywhere.
They also support the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, providing education and inspiration to more than 300 young women to date.
They’ve also invested almost $1 million through their Kiva partnership that supports young entrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women.
The Fossil Foundation aims to disrupt the status quo and empower young people everywhere to enact systemic change.
So far, they have helped more than 2.6 million young lives in more than 20 countries around the world, and they’re aiming for five million by 2025.
In fact, 1% of all online sales go to the Fossil Foundation.
Their goals are to align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by practicing gender equality, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, and partnership through these goals.
9. Attention To Environmental Impact
In a world of climate change, it’s so important for every big company to focus on their environmental impact, and it’s no different for Fossil.
Fossil takes this responsibility seriously by setting up an actionable plan with the hope of inspiring other leading companies to do the same.
In 2015, Fossil met with the sustainability consultant company BSR to compile an actionable plan.
In the past, Fossil has also set up programs to get employees engaged in sustainability, such as offering incentives for recycling.
Employees also engage with their local communities, going into schools and speaking with local groups about sustainability.
Employees also have the opportunity to work in community gardens, which provide food for local food pantries.
Practicing What They Preach
By 2025, Fossil aims to lead in circular business model approaches, meaning their materials can be used, reused, and reduced.
To do this, their primary packaging will be 100% recyclable and/or reusable by 2025.
They also aim to reduce their carbon footprint by 2025 by reducing water consumption for tanning leather by 45%.
By 2030, Fossil is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and eliminating unused and uncontaminated plastics in their supply chain.
To show their commitment to this effort, Fossil Group states they “aspire to design the world’s most sustainable watches and accessories.”
In order to accomplish this, all of their pro-planet products will be clearly labeled, helping you distinguish those from others.
These pro-planet products will be made from recycled materials, certified and established sustainable resources, and made in a process that produces less waste.
In fact, since 2020, Fossil has already saved 1.8 million gallons of water by using eco-friendly leather in their products.
Fossil also sources 90% of their leather from tanneries certified by Leather Work Group.
Additionally, already 20% of their new watches are made with 50% or more pro-planet materials.
If that’s not enough, Fossil uses 100% recycled material for their polybags for leather goods.
They’ve also cut down on stuffing for their online orders by 30%, and the remaining 70% is made from 100% recycled paper.
Also, all Fossil logo paper is made from 80% recycled material.
When it comes to shipping, Fossil has eliminated all foam stuffing.
10. Commitment To Transparency And Accountability
Very few top leading companies are transparent in their discretions and actions.
Fossil has nothing to hide and is, in fact, eager to show off their progress.
Besides clearly labeling their new line of pro-planet products, Fossil will share their sustainability progress along the way and even get their designers involved in sharing their sustainable efforts and practices.
These practices are not just for show.
They truly want to hold themselves accountable for their actions.
Helping to do this, Fossil is instating take-back programs in their stores across the globe in order to recycle and reuse products and packaging.
Fossil is also completely transparent in their business practices.
You only need to browse their website to find ample evidence of this.
This brand shares everything with the public, including investor information, annual and quarterly reports, and stock reports.
They also post their press releases, including any news pertaining to their company, good or bad.
Any and all other business practice information is also posted clearly on their company website.
This includes regularity compliance, Codes of Conduct for manufacturers, social compliance, transparency in coverage, and animal welfare policy.
Conclusion
Fossil brand is a good company for many reasons.
From the quality and style choices of their products to the diversity in the workplace, they clearly care about their practices.
In addition, the time, energy, and money they give back to local communities highlight the company’s values.
Also, the attention they give to their environmental impact is admirable and should be a model for other big companies.
