Tap the image to enlarge
Fossil LE1233 Donald Big Tic Blue Strap Watch - EXCLUSIVE - W10494
Ref. LE1233
Sits in Fossil’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Fossil watches we list, which start at £89.
Price range £89 to £399 across 106 Fossil watches in stock.Fossil's Big Tic platform dates to the late 1990s, when the brand found a way to run analogue hands over a live digital display — a trick that sounds simple and proved genuinely difficult to execute cleanly. This Donald Duck edition revives that format as part of a Disney collaboration, and the result is straightforward about what it is: a limited piece built around a character rather than a complications brief. The blue dial is less a dial in the conventional sense than a small animated screen. Analogue hands track hours and minutes in the usual way while Donald Duck plays out behind them on the digital background, with a side pusher cycling through the animations. The navy silicone strap picks up the yellow accents from Donald's colour scheme along the loop edge, so the two elements read as designed together rather than assembled from separate parts.
- Reference
- LE1233
- Brand
- Fossil
- Case size
- 42mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Blue
- Crystal
- Mineral
- Movement
- Quartz
- Functions
- Dual display, Digital display
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Silicone strap
- Strap colour
- Blue
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- F.Hinds
Learn more about Fossil
Tom Kartsotis founded Fossil in Texas in 1984 after noticing that fashion watches manufactured in Hong Kong could be produced far more cheaply than the market assumed. The name came from his brother's nickname.
The company's insight was presentation. Fossil watches were designed with a deliberately retro American aesthetic and sold in collectable tin boxes, which made an inexpensive quartz watch feel like an object worth keeping. It worked at scale, and Fossil became one of the largest watch companies in the world by unit volume.
The business then grew primarily by acquisition and licensing. Fossil owns Zodiac, Misfit, and the leather goods brand Skagen, and manufactures watches under licence for a long list of fashion houses — Michael Kors, Armani Exchange, Diesel, Kate Spade, and others. For much of the 2010s Fossil produced a substantial share of all branded fashion watches sold globally.
It was also an early and significant player in smartwatches, launching Android Wear devices from 2015 and becoming the largest maker of Google-powered watches, before that market consolidated around Apple, Samsung, and Google itself.
Fossil remains a public company headquartered in Richardson, Texas, and continues to produce its own mechanical and automatic lines alongside the quartz and connected ranges.
- 1984
- Tom Kartsotis founds Fossil in Texas.
- 1990
- The tin-box packaging becomes a signature.
- 2001
- Acquires Zodiac.
- 2015
- Launches its first Android Wear smartwatches.
Also in 2 collections
This watch appears in Stainless Steel Watches (3,082) and Blue Dial Watches (832).
Manufacturer’s guarantee
What the specifications mean
Strengths
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Fossil's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
Compare alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | LE1233 | BU9803 | AR11691 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £239 | £239 | £239 |
| Case size | 42mm | 42mm | 42mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Quartz | Quartz | Quartz |
| Strap | Silicone strap | Leather strap | Stainless steel bracelet |
| This watch | Closely matched | Closely matched |
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Showering yes, swimming no. 50m covers splashes and brief immersion, but a swimming stroke generates well above the pressure that figure describes.
Will the glass scratch?
It can, over time. Mineral glass handles daily wear but will pick up fine scratches that sapphire would not.
Does it need a battery?
Yes. It is quartz, so expect a battery change every two to three years at a jeweller.
What size strap does it take?
22mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
F.Hinds is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference new, at £239. There is nothing to compare it against today.
Who are F.Hinds?
F.Hinds has been run by the same family since 1856 and is now in its fifth generation, with more than 115 shops across England and Wales. They are a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council and an Authorised Diamond Dealer.
You may also like
In stock, and close on style and price
