Don't Hate Fossil Watches

There are plenty of watch collectors that don't like Fossil watches. I've probably been a little too dismissive of the brand myself. But, the Fossil hate is undeserved. I've never had any issues with the Fossil and Relic watches that I've bought.

Let's look at things Fossil has not done:

1. They haven't mislead me. I haven't seen the egregious triple the price of a watch so Fossil could put it "on sale."

2. They haven't put me on a waiting list. You don't have to wait a year to buy a Fossil.

3. Fossil hasn't coerced me into buying a watch I don't want in order to qualify to buy a watch I do want.

4. Fossil hasn't withdrawn unpopular watches from dealers and destroyed them to keep prices artificially high.

Now, let's look at things Fossil has done:

1. Fossil has provided a nice collector's tin with each watch I've bought.

2. Fossil outlet stores have provided great deals like Buy One / Get One in their outlet locations.

3. Fossil has built watches that are "on point" in design, price, and quality.

If there has ever been a reason to knock Fossil, it's been on the company's perceived lack of pedigree. They aren't a European brand. While there are some Swiss-made Fossil watches, the company primarily uses Asian sourcing. This basically boils down to watch snobbery and brand tribalism. A few layoffs and real financial hardships have knocked most of that nonsense right out of me. A cool looking, reliable, watch will suffice now.

Overall, Fossil watches have been a great value.

Watch Deal Alert: Tommy Hilfiger Quartz 3H Watch

An awesome watch from Tommy Hilfiger is on sale right now for 40% off! I have a similar model that we bought at a department store for twice the price and it's been a great watch. Now, it's available with a black dial and matching leather strap. The word we need here is sharp! At a 40% off price less than $60? The next word we need is deal!

Hilfiger watches are made by Movado Group and offer much in terms of build quality and design consistency. They are built like watches rather than props. My Hilfiger watches feel and look good. The sunray dial design on this one is a nice plus that helps separate this watch from the pack. 

This Hilfiger model features all stainless steel construction, a genuine leather strap, a mineral crystal, and practical 30-meter water resistance. That means rain and incidental splashes are OK, but swimming is not recommended.

I like these watches because they fit my wrist well. The watch has a 42mm diameter case that is 10mm thick. The strap is 22mm wide.

You can check this great looking watch out here on Amazon!

Watch Spotlight: MVMT Field II Field Watch

Some field watches have a history dating far back to 20th century wars. Others hang on the spikes and pitons of great adventurers and mountain climbers. Some jist look cool. The MVMT Field II Field watches promise that we can escape from the cubicle maze and set off on an epic adventure.

The MVMT Field II watch (Amazon photo)

The beauty of this watch is more than skin deep. It has stainless steel construction, a mineral crystal, and 100-meter water resistance. Inside a reliable Japanese  Miyota 2415 quartz movement provides accurate time and date functionality.

Dimensionally, the MVMT Field II comes in at 41mm in diameter and 11.5mm thick with a robust 22mm wide nylon textile  strap. The Field II is a very attractive field watch and a great California-designed  offering from a Movado Group brand.

If you are interested, you can see this MVMT watch here via my affiliate link to Amazon. 

Vintage Inspired Watches - The Olev's Quartz Small Seconds Classic

The Look of A Classic Watch for Under $50

Everyone loves classic vintage watches. But, sometimes, service can be expensive when performance begins to lag or a watch stops entirely. That's when vintage-inspired modern watches can step up.  Even upstart brands bring vintage looks forward.

Olev's Classic Dress Watch with Small Hands (Amazon Photo)

The Olev's Vintage Leather Dress Classic (above) brings a small-seconds subdial to your wrist for well under $50. It leaves behind the tiny proportions of old watches with a 41mm diameter case that is 10mm thick. But, Arabic numerals ground the design with a vintage font. The watch also offers stainless steel construction, a genuine leather strap, and 30-meter water resistance.

If you'd like to check out this great offering from Olev's, use my Amazon affiliate link here to help support this blog.

Timex Under $60: Timex Men's Southview 41mm Watch

After a few problematic purchases in the extremely cheap watch department, it's nice to point out modestly priced watches from well known manufacturers like Timex. The Men's Timex Southview 41mm watch is an affordable offering from a maker that many of us rely on.

The Southview is a quartz watch that strikes a design balance between modern, minimalist, and traditional. With Roman numerals as markers it gives the wearer a bit of formality for church or the office. But, with a sparse dial and the lack of a date window, the watch hits the mark for minimalism. The openness of each Roman numeral and the lack of cross bars on those numerals provides a modern touch. Finally, the brown leather strap comfortably admits this watch to the business casual club. It's a big paragraph to say, "Balance."

The Southview has contemporary dimensions with a 41mm diameter case that is just 8.5mm thick. The genuine leather watch strap is 20mm wide. If this sense of balance appeals to you,  check out the Timex Southview here using my Amazon affiliate link.

TGIF: $10 Watch Lessons Learned

My most recent $10 Tuesday watch order was quite a disappointment. After several decent watches, the Alinker 36mm Square Dial watch was a very low quality and fragile timepiece. While I can be quite tolerant, the watch threw a spring bar from the clasp the very first time I tried to put it on. It'll be going back soon. It's not surprising to encounter some of the issues I posted about in the drawbacks of cheap watches. It might be more surprising that we encountered so few of the issues.

Alinker Square Dial Watch

This leaves me in a bit of a quandary.  I think we've exhausted the plausible $10 watch purchases on Amazon. It's time to move onto watches in the $20, $30, and dare I say $40 price ranges. The Ten Dollar Tuesday watch experiment hasn't been a total waste. Watches from Civo, Nibosi, Nuovo, EOJOMIN Gediyar, and Time100 all turned out to be pretty decent. One lesson that I've learned is that the quality of Chinese-brand watches is improving quickly. You can see most of the watches here on my Amazon affiliate store front.

Nibosi "Diamond" watch

Are there any good rules of thumb to follow when looking for a $10 watch? A Ten Dollar "on sale" watch from a company that usually sells $20 or $30 watches is a better bet than a watch that was always intended to be $10 or less. The Civo and Nibosi watches were the best of my purchases and both were originally intended to sell for $20 or $30.

You'll still see $10 watches on here from time to time, but I'm going to look for other low budget choices for watch enthusiasts.

Ten Dollar Tuesday: Avaner Skull Watch and Bracelet

It's Ten Dollar Tuesday and it's October.  If the prospect of an inexpensive Chinese watch isn't scary enough, let's get a spooky one! This Avaner Men's Quartz Skull watch with bracelet might fit the bill perfectly. It has Japanese quartz movement, a 46mm diameter case, a generously-sized leather strap, and comes with an accompanying bracelet with a skull charm.

Avaner Skull Watch and Bracelet Combo (Amazon Photo)

For an October / Halloween watch, $10 is a great deal. The main drawback to me is that the skeletonized hands may be a little difficult to reach.  But, truthfully, this watch is all about the skull. I suspect timekeeping is a secondary consideration. If you are interested in scaring up this timepiece, please feel free to use my Amazon affiliate link here.  

I've had plenty of skull watches in my collection over the years. Some have had brand names like Ed Hardy attached. They always look cool. But, my Ed Hardy has condensation under the crystal and I'm pretty sure it cost about $20. If you're looking for a laughing skull this Halloween, you might not be taking too much of a risk. Just know that it is just a fun watch and not heirloom.