Fossil is a clothing and accessories manufacturer and distributor based in Richardson, TX. Founded in 1984, the Fossil Company was originally known as the Overseas Products International, with a focus in vintage authentic style watch lines. Fossil expanded its product offerings by including leather goods and also introduced the Relic line of watches in 1990. In 1993, Fossil went public, offering accessory lines are primarily comprised of watches and assorted jewellery, though wallets, sunglasses, and women's handbags were also offered.
In order to add clout to its product offerings, Fossil acquired Zodiac, a Swiss watch manufacturer that had been in operation since 1882. The later purchase of Michele Watch completed the premium watch division by allowing quality Swiss timepieces to be offered with a designer touch.
Over the years, Fossil has become extremely successful in its own right, which has led the company to license upscale watch lines, such as Burberry, DKNY, Diesel and many more. A recently released product known as Wrist PDA, which combines a small Palm OS, powered PDA and watch functionality has been very successful, as well as the release of the Caller ID watch in 2006. Also, in 2006, Fossil teamed up with the NFL to manufacture a watch line for each team. Fossil offers its services to any specialized market that requires customized items.
Though Fossil is touted as a premier manufacturer of quality timepieces, Fossil generally assembles custom made dials, and cases and pre manufactured internal workings.
Fossil is best known for its collectible watch offerings. Currently, the largest portion of these are based on well known popular culture characters, such as Superman, Batman, Elvis, Pirates of the Caribbean, Snoopy, and Disney's Cars.
Fossil is about uniquely inspired creativity. Fossil prides itself in its ability to offer "accessible cool". Fossil's brand identity is deeply rooted in offering products that create a modern, yet vintage look for everyone, combining simple, yet elegant elements into every watch produced. Fossil strives to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to styling and technological innovation and has been very successful in its endeavours. Fossil sums up its entire business model in one simple sentence, "Fossil is a design, development, marketing and distribution company that specializes in consumer products predicated on fashion and value".
