Best Burberry Watches: Discontinued Swiss Timepieces

Burberry is one of the most recognizable names in British fashion, known for trench coats and its checked pattern that shows up on scarves, bags, and clothing around the world. For about sixteen years, that same name also appeared on wristwatches, and unlike a lot of fashion-brand watches, the ones made under the Burberry name were built in Switzerland with real Swiss parts inside. The brand no longer makes watches today, which makes the ones that already exist a small, finished chapter in Burberry’s history rather than an ongoing product line, and that alone is enough to make people curious about how good they actually were.

A Quick History of Burberry Watches

Burberry watches were made through a partnership with Fossil Group, which began around 2001. Fossil took on the full manufacturing and design work under license, building the watches in its own factories instead of handing the job to a generic third party. This was possible because Fossil had already bought up several small Swiss watchmaking operations in the years before the deal, giving it the tools to build a genuinely Swiss product under someone else’s name.

The first Burberry watches under this arrangement arrived in 2002. Fossil launched them as a Swiss-made line, alongside a small handful of non-Swiss models that were pulled from shelves fairly quickly. From that point on, almost every Burberry watch sold carried real Swiss manufacturing, which put it in different territory than most clothing brands that simply license their logo to a watch factory in Asia.

The partnership came to an end at the close of 2017, when Burberry chose not to renew the licensing deal. Reports at the time suggested the watch business was generating meaningful revenue for Fossil, somewhere in the range of $100–200 million a year, but Burberry decided its future was better spent focused on its core clothing and accessories business rather than running a separate watch division alongside it.

Why Burberry Watches Were Swiss-Made, Not Made in China

A Burberry watch runs on something called an STP movement, which stands for Swiss Technology Production. This matters because most fashion brands sell watches made overseas with generic, mass-produced parts, while Burberry’s watches used quartz movements built specifically for Fossil’s Swiss-owned factory.

The STP factory is a real, if lesser-known, part of the Swiss watch industry, located in the town of Manno within the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino — a region better known for its proximity to Italy than for horology, unlike the Jura mountains further north where most Swiss watch movements are traditionally built. Fossil bought the facility and used its movements not only for Burberry, but also for its own Fossil Swiss line and for Zodiac, another watch brand under the same corporate umbrella.

Higher-end Burberry pieces went a step further than basic quartz. The flagship Britain Automatic Power Reserve, for example, used a Swiss Soprod caliber 9040 automatic movement that tracked the time, date, and how much power was left before the watch needed winding again — a genuine mechanical complication, not just a battery-powered face with a fancy name.

Fashion houses rarely bother with real Swiss manufacturing for their watch lines, since it costs more and takes longer to produce. Burberry’s decision to do it anyway is a big part of why the brand is still taken seriously among collectors and secondhand buyers today.

Is Burberry Still Making Watches Today?

No. Burberry has not made or sold new watches since the partnership with Fossil ended in 2017. The company chose to focus on the core luxury products that built its reputation instead of continuing a licensed watch line.

A Burberry watch acquired now is either old retail stock or a secondhand piece, not something fresh off a production line. That does not mean the watches disappeared, though. Because so many were made over sixteen years, plenty still turn up at jewelers, resale platforms, and auction sites, much like a discontinued car model that stays on the road and in repair shops long after the factory line shuts down.

The Watch Collections That Defined the Brand

Burberry did not release just one style of watch. Over the years the brand built out several distinct collections, aimed at different customers and price points, and the differences between them went beyond just looks.

Collection	Typical Case Size	Style	Approx. Original Retail
The City	34–42mm	Classic round dress watch, often with an engraved check case	$150–$695
The Britain	42–47mm	Bolder, sportier design inspired by the trench coat silhouette	$995–$4,995
The Classic / Horseferry	38–40mm	Simple, understated round watch with minimal branding	$150–$400
Heritage	26–38mm	Smaller, jewelry-leaning pieces with the Nova check pattern	$200–$600

The City stuck close to a traditional dress-watch look, and many versions used the engraved check pattern directly on the steel case rather than the dial, keeping the branding subtle. The Britain was the brand’s more ambitious line, with case sizes as large as 47mm and, on the automatic models, an exhibition case back that showed off the Soprod movement working inside. Burberry described the design as influenced by the trench coat, though more than one reviewer noted its resemblance to the angular case shapes made famous by designer Gerald Genta on watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus. The Classic, sometimes labeled Horseferry after Burberry’s London headquarters street, offered the plainest look in the lineup and was aimed at buyers who wanted the Swiss quality without heavy logo placement. Heritage watches were smaller and often marketed toward women, leaning on the Nova check pattern as a subtle style detail rather than a bold statement.

Every collection used a Swiss-made movement, whether that was the standard STP quartz caliber or, on the premium Britain models, the more advanced Soprod automatic. The real differences between them came down to size, price, and how visible the checked pattern was on the finished piece.

The Standout Models Within the Lineup

Three specific watches consistently come up as the standouts of the whole line, each representing a different tier of the collection.

The Britain Automatic Power Reserve, reference BBY1000, was the brand’s genuine flagship and the closest it came to a serious watch-collector piece. It housed a Soprod 9040 self-winding movement with 24 jewels, a 40-hour power reserve, and an exhibition case back that revealed the rotor spinning inside, all within a distinctive 47mm octagonal steel case. It originally retailed around $3,995, and one contemporary review noted the case shape drew comparisons to the angular designs Gerald Genta made famous on watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak — high praise for a fashion-house watch.

The City Chronograph, reference BU9350, represented the more everyday side of the lineup and remains one of the most commonly found City models on the resale market. It paired a 42mm stainless steel case with a Swiss quartz chronograph movement, sapphire crystal, a Nova check pattern stamped into the dial, and three subdials tracking running seconds, 30 minutes, and 12 hours of elapsed time. It reflected what most owners actually wore day to day, rather than a showpiece.

The Heritage Nova Check, reference BU9038 and related numbers, covered the smaller, more understated end of the range, typically 38mm and built around simple three-hand quartz movements rather than a chronograph. These leaned on the engraved Nova check pattern across the case and dial as the main design statement, making them a common choice among buyers who wanted something recognizably Burberry without a large or sporty case.

What Made a Burberry Watch Worth Buying

A Burberry watch offered real Swiss manufacturing at a price well below traditional Swiss watch brands, something most fashion labels could never claim about their own watches.

Because the case, dial, and movement all came out of genuine Swiss facilities, Burberry watches tended to hold up better mechanically than typical mall-brand fashion watches, which often use cheap movements built to last only a few years before they start losing time or failing outright. That consistency is part of why some Burberry watches from the mid-2000s are still ticking along today, two decades later, with nothing more than the occasional battery swap.

The design side mattered too. Rather than borrowing a generic watch shape and printing a logo on the dial, Burberry leaned on details tied to its own clothing history — the check pattern, muted color palettes, and trench-inspired case shapes — which gave the line a sense of identity instead of feeling like a rebadged product from a warehouse catalogue.

How to Spot a Real Burberry Watch

Checking the case back is the fastest way to confirm authenticity. Genuine Burberry watches are stamped with a reference number that starts with “BU” or “BBY,” followed by a set of digits, and this number should match any paperwork, warranty card, or box that comes with the watch. Fakes often skip this stamp entirely, use the wrong format, or engrave it shallowly and unevenly.

Weight is another simple test. Because these watches use real steel cases and Swiss movements, they feel noticeably heavier and more solid in the hand than a cheap imitation, which usually feels light and hollow. A check pattern that looks blurry, smudged, or printed rather than sharply engraved, or a crown and clasp that feel loose and rattly, are both warning signs.

Buying from an established jeweler, an estate seller, or a reputable auction house lowers the risk considerably compared to buying from an unknown online seller with no return policy or authentication process.

Caring for a Burberry Watch Now That the Brand No Longer Makes Them

Since Burberry no longer sells watches, official brand-backed warranty support has largely ended. Watches bought while the Fossil partnership was still active may occasionally carry leftover coverage tied to the original agreements, but that becomes rarer with every year that passes since 2017.

Swiss quartz and Soprod automatic movements, however, are not exotic or hard to find parts for. Any competent independent watch repair shop with experience in Swiss movements can replace a battery, service an automatic caliber, or fit a new strap. A repair shop that has specifically handled Swiss quartz or Soprod movements before is a better choice than a generic mall kiosk, since the internal parts differ from what’s found in most disposable fashion watches.

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