Fossil, a master at “branding”

Over the last few years, the American watch group Fossil has become one of the world's champions at the technique of “branding”. It comes as no surprise therefore that results have certainly measured up to expectations. In 1999, the enterprise's turnover reached US$ 418 million, an increase of 37,4% aver the previous year. Revenue was up 57,9% at US$ 87,4 million on sales of 9,5 million pieces for the same period.
Following its Armani and DKNY watch lines, Fossil introduced a new Diesel collection at the international show in Basel this year. It also announced that, next year, it will launch a new line of prestige Swiss Made Donna Karan timepieces. This incursion into Swiss Made is a first for the American group known above all for its talent in timepiece design. Fossil currently manufactures the majority of its watches in factories in China. It has also signed an agreement with Seiko to furnish movements as well as to assemble the pieces.