Fossil Limited Editions You May Have Missed – The Compass Set LE1012

Next up in our series of limited editions you may have missed is the Fossil Compass Watch Collection LE1012 from 2013. Obviously we’re jumping ahead a little bit in the numbers, but have no fear we’ll eventually cover other limited editions between LE1006 and LE1012 – the span in those 6 pieces is 3 years! Now in 2013 the canvas boxes are gone and this set comes in a very nice wax canvas portfolio.

First off let’s identify the elephant in the room – there is no compass in the compass set. Why Fossil consistently uses the compass name in some pieces that don’t feature a compass is a lingering question. The compass name goes back to 1989, but those watches did feature a compass on the strap. There was once even a Fossil Compass watch that was only a compass and no watch!

Let’s quickly dive into this set. The watch itself is very sharp with almost a classic Defender look but with the orange on the dial – it really stands out – might be a little too small for some however at 38mm. Original cost was $295 and was limited to 754 pieces. The LE1012 sold out very quick in 2013 because yours truly tried to buy one new online and couldn’t get one ordered – my local store (when they existed) did not get one of these pieces in their inventory. It wasn’t until years later when a fellow collector sold me his. Even today if you do research on this watch you’ll find some collector chatter on how sharp this piece was and how surprised they were to see something like this from Fossil. A few other limited editions of this vintage along with the short lived Fossil Swiss line certainly made some news.

The LE1012 set included 3 different 18mm straps that interchanged very quickly depending on how you felt. The nylon strap in black & orange has always been my go to and good luck ever finding another one – it’s unique to this piece and not available separately. A five-link bracelet and black leather strap also came included. The black leather strap was one of the first in the Fossil fleet to offer the horizontal stitch marks in another color – a trend we still see today.

The underdog in this set is the folio. It’s wax canvas with some leather trim and very durable. One of the details overlooked is the leather zipper tag that matches the leather strap. If this was a little larger it’d be perfect for a tablet and/or other work materials that I carry around. On occasion when traveling with watches I have used this folio and it’s durability to transport precious cargo across state lines.

The entire kit when new came in a cloth bag and found in a Fossil gift box as common to that era. Enjoy the photos from the 2 sets in our collection.