Half-year net sales (ended July 7) of watchmaker Fossil Inc. rose 16.8 percent to $611.3 million. Net income totaled $39.7 million (versus $21 million in 2006). Gross profit rose 17.9 percent, year over year, to $306.6 million. The Richardson, Texas, company believes innovations (introduced in 2006’s second half and early 2007) in its watch and jewelry lines are fueling domestic and international sales growth.

Upscale Swiss watchmaker Bucherer Watches S.A. on July 1 acquired Techniques Horlogères Appliquées, gaining two more Swiss sites—in Longeau (assembly) and Sainte-Croix (development, technical research, and production of movements).

Luxury Swiss watchmaker Ebel has a five-year agreement with British soccer club Arsenal to provide time displays in Arsenal’s stadium and improve the club’s timing equipment. The contract was announced at a June press conference where Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen, the brand’s ambassador, gave her Ebel 1911 BTR GMT to a group dedicated to conserving the upper Xingu river basin in Brazil’s Mato Grosso region.

Swiss luxury watchmaker Roger Dubuis recently launched its new Web site (www.rogerdubuis.com), which includes information on its watches and jewelry, distribution, and “other essential features contributing to the brand’s identity,” it said.

Swiss watch innovator and industry veteran Gérald Genta has signed on as a consultant to Swiss luxury watch brand Hublot. The relationship was set to be announced at a press conference in September.

Breitling has given $150,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn. “Breitling wanted to make a bigger impact in its charitable giving, to really make a difference,” said Marie Bodman, Breitling USA’s president. “[At St. Jude’s] tremendous hope and life-saving care [are] given to children, and their families, facing grave illnesses.” Clark Sweat, vice president of corporate and leadership giving of ALSAC, St. Jude’s fund-raising arm, said, “Compassionate corporate partners like Breitling,” help St. Jude give “unsurpassed patient care to children battling cancer and other diseases, regardless of a family’s ability to pay.”