New Solar Defenders for 2023
Picture a dreary work trip in Europe, it’s rainy and cold and you are tired, jet-lagged and longing for comforts of home. Your phone goes off and it’s your friend Adam alerting you that new Defenders are now appearing on Amazon & Zappos. Wiping the rain off of your phone and in 100% bewilderment there they are - 3 new Defenders! A deeper dive into Google and 3 more new Defenders are discovered for a grand total of 6. Could there be more?
Picture a dreary work trip in Europe, it’s rainy and cold and you are tired, jet-lagged and longing for comforts of home. Your phone goes off and it’s your friend Adam alerting you that new Defenders are now appearing on Amazon & Zappos. Wiping the rain off of your phone and in 100% bewilderment there they are - 3 new Defenders! Why didn’t I know about these — where is the heads up? A deeper dive into Google and 3 more new Defenders are discovered for a grand total of 6. Could there be more? Happy 2023, let’s dig in!
Not much is known at this point about these Defenders. No Defender specific model numbers, no special marketing or packaging and nothing is appearing on Fossil.com in the US yet (they are appearing on Germany’s site as of 2/9/23). The movements are all solar and the descriptions are very earth friendly and one can only assume it’s a step towards Fossil’s advertised sustainability efforts to being good for the planet.
As a fan of the now defunct One Eleven Watches, I’m excited to see the solar movements and earth friendly materials promoted in our favorite line of Fossil watches.
The 6 new pieces are model numbers FS5973, FS5974, FS5975, FS5976, FS5977 and FS5978 and are pictured below is corresponding order.
For now we’ll keep the Defender Guide updated with the latest.
Update as of February 15, 2023! The new Defenders are now live across Fossil’s various country sites. Find the links below for each colorway here in the US. Important to note the case size is 40mm unless otherwise noted. We look forward to reviewing soon in person, in the meantime happy shopping.
FS5973 - Defender Solar-Powered Stainless Steel Watch
FS5974 - Defender Solar-Powered Medium Brown Eco Leather Watch
FS5975 - Defender Solar-Powered Luggage Eco Leather Watch
FS5976 - Defender Solar-Powered Stainless Steel Watch 46mm
Fossil Solar Watches and Sustainability Initiatives
To celebrate 50 years of Earth Day, Fossil has released a new Limited Edition Solar Watch! For Fossil fans you must be thinking hasn’t Fossil done solar before? The answer is yes, yes they have! But before we dig into the past, let’s talk about the future.
To celebrate 50 years of Earth Day, Fossil has released a new Limited Edition Solar Watch! For Fossil fans you must be thinking hasn’t Fossil done solar before? The answer is yes, yes they have! But before we dig into the past, let’s talk about the future.
By 2025 Fossil Group has a goal to design and produce 100% of their products to meet their pro-planet criteria. What exactly is their pro-planet criteria? Here some highlights:
100% primary packaging recyclable and/or reusable by 2025. Are tins recyclable? They sure are reusable!
Reduce water consumption for leather tanning by 45%
Eliminate virgin plastics across their supply chain
There are 2 pages where you can read more and I would encourage you to do so. It’s refreshing to see a corporation setup these kinds of goals & initiatives and not post about their bottom line or some financial goal like doubling their revenue by 2025.
Okay let’s talk about the watch! Like most of the new limited editions being released we have a men’s and a women’s version. Mrs. Fossil UndergroundCollectorsClub is really excited that Fossil is making some for the ladies now and not just her collector husband. Both models, the LE1112 and LE1113 are limited to 1754 pieces each. That’s a nice high number to kick off the sustainability initiatives and that’s 3508 new trees planted via EcoMatcher who is planting trees for every one of these watches sold.
The first indication that Fossil is up to something different was the packaging with the word SOLAR right on the front. The packaging as always is gorgeous and completely recyclable, but as with most collectors we’ll be saving this one for years to come.
The colorful array of straps is the next item you’ll notice. Five straps are made with a total of 16 plastic bottles (16oz). You wouldn’t be able to tell they are made from plastic bottles and as for the bright colors – wow!
The watch itself is much sharper in person that I had expected when I first saw it online. It’s extremely light too which is a nice change of pace for the warmer summer months. A full charge of the watch can last up to 4 months! Honestly in wearing it around the quarantined house for the past few days, you don’t even notice it’s a solar watch, has a different movement, etc – a nice light and seemingly durable 42mm watch that is helping save the environment. Grab one today!
https://www.fossil.com/en-us/products/limited-edition-solar-watch-box-set/LE1113.html
https://www.fossil.com/en-us/products/limited-edition-solar-watch-box-set/LE1112.html
Now what would a post be on the Underground Fossil Collectors Club without a little shout out to the past? We’ve posted about limited-edition Fossil Solar watches in the past – there were 4 of them and each of them had a visible solar panel in the face of the watch. That technology is long gone for watches and it certainly didn’t last 4 months on a single charge! Unlike other watches in the new Fossil Collectors Club there isn’t a strong connection to the heritage of the short-lived Fossil Solar from the 90’s, but we are excited what else Fossil has up their sleeve as we all make our way to 2025.
Fun Fact: If you are interested in solar watches and sustainability check out a Fossil Group owned brand: One Eleven Watches. A little taste of Fossil Group’s future might be there.
Stay Safe and Travel Light - Fossil Fans!
Fossil Solar Watches
Taken from the Fossil Limited Edition Checklist we know that there are 4 known different Fossil Solar watches that were in limited production. These watches were released in 1994 and other solar powered watches made by Fossil are not known. The appeal of these watches are great much like the Automatic watches. They are virtually maintenance free and by not having a battery it makes the task of opening up the back of the watch nonexistent, which is a major plus for me.
Recently I came across a men's Fossil Solar watch on eBay. This watch is model LE-9439 and it's listed as Basic. The other variants in the Solar family are Retro and Sport. The Basic model also features the date. This watch originally cost $125!
With a few hours in the sun it ran for over 24 hours. The watch is water resistant to 3 ATM.
I'd love to see if anyone has one of these watches possibly with paperwork or maybe even a package that it came in. I'm keeping my eyes open.
