As anyone who lived through the ‘90s will remember, Fossil watches were as ubiquitous as Gap khakis and Aaliyah, thanks to a retro-futuristic look that meshed perfectly with the decade’s eclectic rockabilly-meets-preppy-meets-X-Games sensibility. The ‘90s aren’t generally considered a golden period for watches in the same way they were for leather blazers and novelty pop songs, but at this point in the ongoing resurgence of cultural icons from the Big Willie Style era, nothing is immune from a reboot.
So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that with ‘90s culture trending hard on all fronts, Fossil’s fresh lineup of sub-$200 divers, vintage-style chronographs, and quirky character watches makes it the latest pre-Y2K survivor to vie for a place in your wardrobe.
“It was the watch of the ‘90s,” says Fossil’s present-day Creative Director, Ryan White, who fondly remembers the inescapability of Fossil’s watches, T-shirts, and other assorted merch in the late ‘90s. “It’s crazy talking to people about Fossil because everyone has a story. If you were growing up in the ‘90s, you weren’t cool unless you had a Fossil watch.”
For anyone who wasn’t around at the time, it’s hard to overstate how big of a deal Fossil was. By the mid-1990s, the brand was making upwards of four million watches a year and selling them in more than 50 countries, with 2,000 retailers in the US alone. At its height, Fossil produced more than 500 styles, from Superman and Barbie watches to decadent 1970s-style gold LEDs to watches with hologram dials (holograms were a big thing in the ‘90s).
Fossil wasn’t the only brand pushing the boundaries of the entry-level watch (this was, after all, the decade of the Timex IronMan, the G-Shock DW-6900 and the Oakley Time Bomb), but in both the scale of its operations and the off-the-wall creativity of its designs, the brand was in a class of its own.
These days Fossil’s catalog is slimmer and more focused than it was 25 years ago, but its something-for-everyone ethos remains. So, too, does the zany sense of humor that defined its most memorable ‘90s creations. “We made products for every character and every brand that was out there in the ‘90s,” White says, from The Simpsons to Betty Boop—the most collectible of which are now trading for significant money on eBay. “Now we’re being a little bit more strategic. We want to spark some nostalgia and emotion, but also cater to the watch enthusiast community.”
The result is a lineup of modern dive watches, field watches, and GMTs, as well as character watches dedicated to Star Wars, Disney, and (in time for Timothée Chalamet’s starring role as the infamous chocolatier) Willy Wonka. Fossil has also embarked on a series of collabs with streetwear legends like Jeff Staple, who recently reworked the brand’s ‘90s Sundial watch—as a Roman sundial on a strap, it’s only a “watch” in the most generous sense of the word—into a modern version equipped with an automatic movement and, naturally, a hologram dial.
It’s a fitting tribute to one of the wildest timepieces of the ‘90s, and a sure sign that 30 years after Fossil’s first heyday, it’s still a go-to for some of the most fun-yet-affordable models in the game.
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