Perry Ellis is a name most people know from the clothing rack, not the watch counter. But a walk through a department store, or a scroll through an online marketplace, turns up Perry Ellis watches sitting quietly next to bigger names like Fossil and Michael Kors, usually with a price tag under a hundred dollars. That mix of a familiar fashion name and a wallet-friendly price makes people curious, and also a little unsure. Is a Perry Ellis watch actually a good watch, or is it just a logo slapped on a cheap piece? The answer sits somewhere in between, and understanding how these watches are made and who builds them explains why.
Who Manufactures Perry Ellis Watches?
Perry Ellis doesn’t build its own watches. Like almost every fashion brand that sells timepieces, the company licenses its name to a specialist watchmaker, who designs and produces the watches and pays Perry Ellis for the right to use the brand.
From 2017 through 2023, that partner was a company called Optimo Group. Perry Ellis then moved to a different licensee, Concepts In Time, with the change announced in August 2023. Concepts In Time ranks among the bigger US-based watch manufacturers, and the resulting collection reached stores on Father’s Day 2024, with the two companies locked into working together through 2029. This matters more than it might seem, because the licensing partner is the company actually deciding on materials, movements, and quality control — Perry Ellis mostly supplies the name and the design direction.
The Perry Ellis name traces back to designer Perry Ellis, born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1940, who launched his own fashion house in 1978 after years working as a retail buyer and sportswear designer. He died in 1986 at age 46. Ownership of the label changed hands in 1999, when Miami apparel company Supreme International — founded by Cuban immigrant George Feldenkreis — took it over and adopted the Perry Ellis International name for itself going forward. That parent company still owns the brand today and licenses it out across clothing, fragrance, eyewear, and watches.
Watches became part of that picture as the parent company leaned harder into licensing deals during the 2000s, treating categories like fragrance, footwear, and watches as revenue streams to hand off to specialist manufacturers rather than build in-house. That structure lowers overhead and lets Perry Ellis International focus on brand direction while outside partners handle actual production. The company has grown considerably since — it now oversees dozens of owned and licensed labels and sells in well over a hundred countries, making the watch line one small piece of a much larger operation.
Is Perry Ellis a Real Watch Brand?
Yes, Perry Ellis is a legitimate, licensed brand — it isn’t a knockoff or a name being used without permission. But it carries no special reputation or prestige in the watch world the way a brand like Seiko or Citizen does.
Think of it less as a “watch brand” in the traditional sense and more as a fashion label that happens to sell watches as one of many accessory categories, alongside things like sunglasses and wallets. That’s a completely normal setup — brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and Kenneth Cole work the same way. The watches are built to look good and function reliably at an accessible price, not to compete with serious horology brands on craftsmanship or mechanical complexity.
The fashion credibility behind the name is real, even if it has nothing to do with watchmaking. Ellis picked up a Coty Award, once the top honor in American fashion, in each year from 1979 to 1984, and he later led the Council of Fashion Designers of America as its president. That reputation is what the watch line borrows from — a well-regarded American sportswear name — rather than any history of building timepieces.
What Types of Perry Ellis Watches Can You Buy?
Perry Ellis organizes its watches into a handful of collections, each built around a specific look or feature rather than a shared movement or case style.
Slim Line and Ultra Slim Watches
These are the brand’s dressier option, built with thin cases meant to sit close to the wrist under a shirt cuff. Some models in this line, like the Ultra Slim Diamond, pair a round blue sunray dial with a silver alloy band and include a single genuine diamond set at the 12 o’clock marker for a bit of extra shine. They typically come with a choice of leather, mesh, or alloy metal straps, and are meant for office wear or smart-casual occasions rather than sport or outdoor use.
Solar Powered Watches
This collection runs on light instead of a replaceable battery. Once fully charged by exposure to light, a Perry Ellis solar watch can typically run for around four months in complete darkness. The Solar model with a sandstone dial and steel mesh band pairs its 43mm case with an aluminum tachymeter bezel for a sportier look, while versions on vegan leather straps lean closer to everyday casual wear. It’s a practical feature for anyone who doesn’t want to think about battery changes, and reviewers who have tested these watches note that the solar cell is hidden well enough that there’s no obvious sign, just by looking at the dial, of how it’s powered.
Deep Diver Watches
The Deep Diver line is built for actual water exposure, rated to 200 meters with a screw-down crown that properly seals the case against moisture. The Deep Diver in green dial with a silicone rubber band uses a surgical-grade stainless steel case at 42mm and adds a uni-directional countdown bezel for tracking dive time, along with luminous markers for reading the dial underwater. This is the one Perry Ellis collection genuinely suited to swimming or snorkeling, since the rest of the range is not built for anything beyond splashes.
Decagon Watches
Named for their ten-sided case shape, Decagon watches lean into a bolder, more geometric look compared to the brand’s rounder dress pieces. The Decagon in blue dial on a stainless steel band, sized at 46mm, shows off that angular, sport-luxury styling well, with luminous hour markers for easier reading in low light. They’re positioned as a style-forward option for someone who wants a watch that stands out a little more on the wrist.
Memphis Watches
The Memphis collection takes its name and its look from the loud, colorful Memphis art movement of the 1980s, using a case built from three separate components — case, base, and top — so it can mix materials and colors within a single watch. The Memphis in Ocean Blue dial combines a 44mm stainless steel and aluminum case with an interchangeable genuine leather strap. It’s the most visually bold collection Perry Ellis makes, aimed at buyers who want a watch that reads as a design statement first.
How Much Do Perry Ellis Watches Cost?
Prices generally land between $50 and $150 new, with a small number of pieces falling outside that band on either end. That puts Perry Ellis squarely in the budget-to-mid fashion watch category, similar in price to brands like Kenneth Cole, DKNY, or Guess.
A $100 fashion watch and a $1,000 Swiss watch are not competing for the same customer. One is built to look sharp and function reliably for a few years of regular wear. The other is built as a long-term mechanical object meant to be serviced and passed down. Judging Perry Ellis against the second standard misses the point of what it’s actually offering.
What Materials Do Perry Ellis Watches Use?
Perry Ellis watches are typically built with stainless steel or alloy cases, quartz movements (often manufactured in China), and a mix of strap materials including leather, stainless steel mesh, and metal alloy bracelets. Some sportier models add features like an aluminum tachymeter bezel, which is the ring of numbers around the dial used to calculate speed over distance.
None of these materials are unusual for a watch in this price range — they’re the same components found across most fashion watch brands selling in a similar bracket. The construction is straightforward and functional rather than premium, which lines up honestly with the price being charged.
Case sizes vary quite a bit by collection, generally running from around 24mm on smaller women’s styles up to 44mm or more on the larger sport-inspired men’s pieces, offering a fairly wide range depending on wrist size and preference. Checking whether a watch is a genuine Perry Ellis is straightforward: the brand name typically appears in the upper third of the dial face, and is stamped again on the back of the strap and on the buckle — three separate places carrying the logo, not just one.
Are Perry Ellis Watches Water Resistant?
Most Perry Ellis watches, including the solar-powered models, are rated to 3ATM, meaning they can handle splashes, rain, and hand-washing but shouldn’t be submerged or worn while swimming. Only the Deep Diver collection, rated to 200 meters with a screw-down crown, is built for actual time in the water.
For anyone shopping for a watch specifically to swim or snorkel in, the Deep Diver is the only Perry Ellis line built for that. Everything else in the catalog is better treated as an everyday-wear watch that can survive a rainstorm but not a swimming pool.
Do Perry Ellis Watches Hold Their Value?
Not particularly, and that’s true of nearly every watch in this price category, not just Perry Ellis. Independent research into watch depreciation has repeatedly found that new watches lose roughly a third of their value within the first twelve months, and cheaper fashion pieces tend to fall even harder than that average suggests.
Put a number on it and a $100 Perry Ellis watch usually lands somewhere in the $15 to $50 range once it hits the used market, with the final figure swinging on condition, the specific model, and how badly a particular buyer wants that piece. The Deep Diver line seems to hang onto more of its value than the dress or solar pieces, most likely because a genuine 200-meter rating still means something practical to whoever buys it secondhand. Anyone weighing resale into the purchase decision should treat a Perry Ellis watch as something to wear and enjoy, not as an investment.
Perry Ellis vs Other Fashion Watch Brands
Within its price bracket, Perry Ellis sits comfortably alongside brands like Kenneth Cole, Anne Klein, and Guess — fashion houses that license out watch production the same way. Compared to brands like Fossil or Michael Kors, which sell at a similar or slightly higher price point, Perry Ellis has a narrower range of collections and a less recognizable presence specifically as a watch brand, even though the parent fashion label is well known.
| Feature | Perry Ellis | Typical Fossil/MK Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Price range | $50–$150 | $85–$250 |
| Movement | Quartz (often Chinese-made) | Quartz (mixed origins) |
| Water resistance | 3ATM standard, 200m Deep Diver | Varies, often 5ATM standard |
| Brand recognition (as watches) | Low | Moderate to high |
| Best for | Casual, everyday, budget buyers | Everyday, slightly more premium finish |
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Perry Ellis watches good quality?
For the price, they’re reasonably solid. The materials and quartz movements match what’s typical across the budget fashion watch category, though they’re not built to the standard of dedicated watch brands or luxury manufacturers.
Who currently manufactures Perry Ellis watches?
Since August 2023, Perry Ellis watches have been produced by Concepts In Time, a US-based watch manufacturer, under a licensing agreement running through 2029.
Is it safe to swim while wearing a Perry Ellis watch?
Only with a model from the Deep Diver collection, which is rated to 200 meters with a screw-down crown. All other Perry Ellis watches are rated to 3ATM and should be kept away from swimming or submersion.
Are Perry Ellis watches a good gift?
They can be, especially for someone who wants a clean, recognizable name on their wrist without spending a lot of money. Just set expectations around the price point — this is a fashion accessory, not a luxury keepsake.
Do Perry Ellis watches use automatic or mechanical movements?
No, current Perry Ellis watches use quartz movements, meaning they run on a battery or, in the solar collection, light-charged power rather than a wound mechanical mechanism.
Conclusion
Perry Ellis watches are exactly what they present themselves as: affordable, well-styled accessories built under license by companies that specialize in watch manufacturing, not high-end timepieces trying to punch above their price. For anyone wanting a reliable everyday watch with a familiar name, a slim dress profile, or genuine 200-meter water resistance from the Deep Diver line, Perry Ellis delivers on those specific promises. What it doesn’t offer is resale value or mechanical craftsmanship, so the smartest way to buy one is for how it looks and functions on the wrist today, not as an investment expected to hold value down the road.
