Big Brown Fossil

I love this Watch. I have had it for about two years. I love it so much in fact when the Crown pulled out and the plating started coming off of the watch, I sent it off to Fossil to be repaired as opposed to tossing it. I have a habit of allowing my Fossils to be disposable watches. This Fossil at the time was largest watch I had ever owned at 52 millimeters. I always said it was my training wheel watch for a Invicta Russian Divers. And I love it still to this day.




It has large brown dial features three sub-dials, combining functionality and modern style. It is a light stainless steel ion-plated case and has a nice contour bracelet that allows for it to fit my wrist very comfortably. About 6 months ago I noticed the the Brown Ionic Plating was rubbing of but I figured I could deal with that. Then the stem of the watch came out and it was back to Fossil. And thanks to the 11 year warranty and 15 dollars I sent, they repaired the watch and put a brand new bracelet on. Not too bad of a deal. Too bad after getting it back the chronograph does not work but, I never used it on this watch anyway. I would have to say all in all, that this is my favorite Fossil.




And here are some specs.

Clasp: fold-over-clasp
Case material: stainless-steel with brown Ion-Plating.
Case diameter: 52 millimeters
Band material: stainless-steel with brown Ion-Plating.
Dial color: Brown/ Rose Gold
Calendar: Date
Movement: 3-hand quartz chronograph movement
Water resistant up to 5 ATM

Special Kenneth Cole

Jeff is still organizing his thoughts on posting, so I thought I would post a quick paragraph. This watch is a Kenneth Cole tank given to me by my wife several years ago. She got me this one for Christmas as a surprise. We didn't really have enough money for such extravagances at the time, but she scrimped and saved and bought it anyway. This one will always mean a lot to me. It has seen lots of wrist time. I'm glad the shadows in the picture hide some the scratches on the bracelet. It is a simple three hand Japanese quartz movement with a date window. The case is obviously a tank shape with a snap in case back. This was my first watch with a push button deployment clasp. Nothing too fancy, but silver went with pretty much everything, so this was my "go to" watch for a while.

Good Day from Jeff

I wanted to introduce myself. As my partner in Watch Novices alluded to there would be another "blogger" here. I hate that word. I am a self professed Watch Geek with aspirations of being a Watch Collector. I do not collect watches because of the possible investments that could be had. That is just a myth anyway. I collect for the pure visceral joy i get by collecting them. I am by no means a watch bigot or elitist. I will not stand before you and say that Swiss Quartz are crap, that a Japanese Automatic is not as good as a Swiss or any of that other petty stuff that is found though out the internet. What I say is just my opinion and that is all.

I started my fascination with watches at a young age. The first watch I can remember is my grandfathers pocket watch. I remember loving to hold it and listen to the whirring noises inside and the clicking noises as he would wind his watch. I was hooked.

Being a child of the 80's my primary watches growing up were Swatch's, Casio Calculator watches, and random digital. Since then I have had Fossils, Invicta's, Swiss Legends and others
join my collection. I hope to share some of them with you, give you my honest opinion, and maybe entertain you a bit.

As Josh said before me we will also be posting links to some of our favorite watch cyberspots. We hope you enjoy our little corner of the internet. And remember; Clothes make the man, but a watch defines who that man is.

Aeronautic 2000

Yeah, I've never heard of Aeronautic 2000 either. Even the all powerful Google turns up nothing. This was a first on several levels. This was the first watch I ever bought off of television and also my first mechanical. This was a bit of an impulse buy, but at the time I was on the lookout for a watch to rival a Seiko Kinetic that a friend of mine had just purchased. I know it doesn't. But it was a start. I remember the host saying this movement was similar to a Seiko Kinetic, which was just starting to take off at the time. I guess since it was a Japanese movement and not quartz, it was "similar".



It is obviously a Rolex copy, and no, those aren't solid 18k gold links. Sorry to disappoint. The bracelet is made up of folded links and has the standard diver clasp. As you can see, I wore this watch A LOT. The gold plating on the center links is starting to fade on most of them.



The face was a very nice blue at one time, but this has since been degraded by the clouded crystal. There are four small "dots" on the crystal. I honestly have no idea what they are or what caused them. The gold on the bezel has remained in fairly good condition. The lume on the hour markers and bezel dot are better than some of the newer watches I have. The screw down crown is a nice touch, even if it is a bit small.



My favorite part of this watch was and is the exhibition caseback. This closed the deal in my mind, since this was a feature also present on the aforementioned Seiko. The movement is a standard, run of the mill Miyota. No frills, just a solid movement. Still runs fine after 10-12 years. I have never needed to have it serviced. A couple of shakes and off it goes. I love how the words "Water Resistant" are printed on the back crystal, although it never specifies how much. Needless to say, I did not take this one swimming. I also suspect the case is not a high grade of stainless steel.

I don't wear this watch anymore really, but it holds a special place in my collection. This was the first watch that introduced me to the wonderful world of a sweeping second hand, even if it stuttered a bit. And this was one of the first watches I really enjoyed showing off.

Posting Monopoly

I promise my partner in crime will have some posts up shortly. Since I am doing the photography, we've got to find a time to meet up so I can shoot a portion of his collection. Hopefully he'll have some up this week.

Fossil Diver

This is another Fossil in the Blue series. My wife bought this one for me while we were dating many moons ago. This is the first watch I remember seeing and really desiring as we looked at in the the small watch kiosk in the mall. I think she gave this one to me as a birthday present. I really liked the look of the saw blade diver bezel.



As you can see, the gunmetal plating on the bezel and band left something to be desired, and there are several scratches on the crystal. This was one of my first watches with a chronograph complication. I probably ran down the battery considerably as much I as played with it. The large second had was constantly running unlike most standard chronograph movements. The sub dials included chronograph seconds, 1/10 seconds, and minutes up to one hour. The divers bezel rotates smoother than any watch I own save the Seiko Monster (review to come later). It takes 72 clicks to make a full rotation. Kind of an odd number. I think the raised numerals are a nice touch. It even has a small lume dot on the bezel, but the lume on the hands and hour markers is relatively lackluster. I don't think I would rely on the lume in the murky fathoms.



The bracelet is solid and has a diver safety clasp. I get a kick out of the "micro" tachymeter on the 6 o'clock subdial. Definitely a design decision that favors the young. This watch was one of my favorites for quite some time, but the ever disappearing plating on the bezel and bracelet definitely hampered its longevity in my rotation. I'm sure there is some lesson about growing older in there somewhere.

My First Fossil

This is my first Fossil. It is from the Blue series which was a diver type that had a larger level of water resistance than other Fossil models if I remember correctly. I bought this watch (actually it was bought for me) in the summer of 1996 from a major department store. It is a simple Japanese 3-hand quartz movement with a mineral crystal and rotating divers bezel. The bezel rotates with a very solid clunk and makes the complete rotation in 90 clicks (or clunks). The gold and silvertone meant it did double duty as a casual and dress watch. I will not pain you with photos of late 90's fashion, but some of it was quite garish. Don't laugh. You know what you wore, and you're not proud of it.



The hour markers are goldtone with small luminous markers on the outside chapter ring. The dial is a very deep green with a wavy texture on the inner portion. The bracelet is made up of silvertone folded links with goldtone accents. It's still not a bad looking watch, although it hasn't had a good battery in it for quite some time. This was the watch that started it all for me. From that point, watches were no longer just a simple tool to tell the time. I found myself gazing through the case glass in countless jewelry stores, always wishing. Always wanting.