(Reuters) - Fossil Inc's (FOSL.O) quarterly results breezed past analysts' estimates, helped mainly by strong global watch sales and improved gross margins, prompting the watch maker to raise its full-year earnings outlook for a third time.

Fossil.com

For the full year, the company expects earnings of $3.59-$3.63 a share, up from its prior view of $3.13-$3.23 a share.

For the third quarter, the company, which also sells jewelry, leather goods, belts, sunglasses and apparel, earned $68.2 million, or $1.00 a share, compared with $35.3 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue at the company, whose watches sell from $7 to upwards of $2,000, rose 37 percent to $523.8 million.

Analysts were expecting the company to earn 75 cents a share, on revenue of 484.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Fossil, valued at about $4.18 billion, said gross profit margin increased to 57.0 percent from 55.3 percent, driven by an increase in the mix of sales of higher-margin watch and jewelry products.

Fossil, which sells private-label products at mass-market stores like Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and Target Corp (TGT.N), expects net sales, on a constant dollar basis, to increase 21-23 percent in the fourth quarter.

Richardson, Texas-based Fossil's shares, which have gained about 40 percent in value since the company reported second-quarter results in August, closed at $63.97 on Monday on Nasdaq.

They were up 6 percent at $68.00 in trading before the bell on Tuesday morning.

(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)