Advice with buying Fossil, or diverting to a different brand..

[Birddog]

I'm fairly new to the world of watches. Yet its started to peak my interested in the past couple months. I have been wearing a fossil watch with a leather band for the past 6 months and have gotten surprisingly a lot of compliments on it at a college campus. So I started to explore some fashionable watches struggling to achieve a good recognizable trendy name brand along with quality and durability. Thankfully after poking around this forum I avoided buying a Michael Kors big ticket watch today. I purchased two fossils though and have my eyes set on one more. Here are my watches.



the one on my left is my trusty old fossil, just replaced the battery it looks good after some clumsy incidents.
I just purchased the center one for 110 after a 25% off sale. I like the look, and got the stainless steel instead of the silicon wristband for style, yet I really like the leather feel of my first watch because I feel I'm in between links on fit.
The one on the far right was on clearance for 52 and then they took an additional 25% off so I was pleased to pick it up for 40 bucks with a stylish look.
The last watch I really want is their ansil style rose gold with a leather band which wasn't at the store, I pretty much love everything about its look.


So my question is before I start building a big collection of watches with fossil, am I setting myself up for disappointment in quality for the price? Should I stray away from the stainless steel one for 110 and save for a more quality watch that has that style? I just want to ask for any advice from those that have learned from experience. I'm open to any advice on the topic. I can easily return my two purchased watches and mismatch buying another watch in the price range.

Thanks for any help on the topic!

[jbbutts]

Hello...and welcome to the world of watches!

I always start out by saying "Buy and wear what YOU like". You wear a watch for yourself...do if you like it..go for it!

With that said, I have owned a couple Fossils in my lifetime. While they keep on ticking (one of them actually has a Seiko movement) I have found that a lot of the finer details of them are not so great for what they charge.

For the price you paid, you could snag an Orient Ray or even, gasp, a decent Invicta/Android.

Head over to the Affordable's forum and look around. Seiko is always a great brand to start with.

Welcome...and enjoy your watches!!

[Bwfaco]

Wear what you like. I love Fossil watches (I have 6), but I also didn't pay full retail for any of them. They are overpriced, but then they also have an 11 year warrenty and they use good quality movements. Of mine 5 have Seiko movements and one has a Citizen movement. Both Seiko and Citizen don't warrenty their own movements for that long. I have been able to get 2 of mine replaced for free without having to send them in to the repeair ceneter, both had the same Seiko movement in them and both had the same problem. In both cases the store was able to locate the exact model at another store and have it shipped in to replace mine. They also have a $38 dollar max on non-warrenty repairs, meaning if you buy a watch for $100, wear it for 10 years, chipping and scratching it along the way and send it to them along with $38 dollars then they have to repair all the problems (case, bracelet, band, crystal) or give you a new watch with the same features for your $38.

[cheapy]

I too have a Fossil watch. It has my favorite sports team's logo as a backlight. I've had it for over 10 years, and both the backlight and watch are still running quite well. Although, I must state that I've picked up an Orient and a Seiko Kinetic for less than $50 on these forums so there are many options for a sub $100 watch out there.

[dualtime]

I've owned a few Fossils and I still have the first one Ii purchased which is an automatic. They aren't bad watches, but they are a bit overpriced when you pay full retail. I would certainly buy a Fossil over an Invicta any day....even at full retail..

[sager]

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. I have fossil, guess, seiko and citizen watches. If you are looking for "looks" and an attention grabber, I would say go with fossil. Quality is not bad either with fossil. I have one similar to yours (the one in the middle on rubber) and changed the battery last week after having it for almost 4 years!

Seiko is of very good quality and, in my opinion, superior to fossil. But if you are looking for a trendier looking watch go fossil.

[Birddog]

Thanks guys for all the input! The advice is really helpful in making my decisions. I ended up returning the watch in the center because It was really uncomfortable because I was in between links. I figured it was a easily replaceable style in another brand anyway. I did some research on a g shock and ended up with a Casio model GA-120 1A, so I could have a knockaround watch to wear virtually anywhere. Yet I'm glad to hear that fossil is good as long as I'm not dishing out retail price. I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for the ansel rose gold to turn up somewhere around 80 dollars; but also looking at other brand watches that are recommended on this forum.

[elizabethchambell]

Hey, Nice collection. Usually I too go for Fossil watches as they are quite trendy sporty and always have so much option to give. I mostly assess the style of the watch before purchasing; I don’t like to repeat styles. Usually I shop online on Shoppers Stop where I get to know their new collection and the available colors. They are well known for online shopping in India.

[dualtime]

Nice G-Shock!!!!!

[Birddog]

Nice G-Shock!!!!!

The more I wear it, the more I love it. They really caught me off guard with the analog look; its like the best of both worlds when trying to find a everyday durable yet stylish look!