7 underrated watches that we absolutely loved this year

via Hodinkee

For the past few years, it seems like we've seen a new watch announced every day of the week – doesn't it?

It does to us, and we do our best to only show you the finest watches out there – the watches worth knowing about.

But we've still seen so many new introductions this year – and some of them have been huge, like Tudor's Black Bay Black, Patek's enamel dialed, split-seconds 5370, AP's new perpetual calendar Royal Oak, JLC's ticking Geophysic, and, of course, Vacheron's 57260, the most complicated watch, ever.

But, there have been some absolute gems that came out this year that we've absolutely loved – but that didn't receive much fanfare from the masses, and in some cases, went totally under the radar.

Here we'll show you seven watches introduced in 2015 that are absolutely awesome, though you likely forgot about them.

1. The Rotonde De Cartier Chronograph

What is it?

I say this every time I begin a story about Cartier – they deserve your respect not only as a designer, but also as a serious watchmaker. Their 1904 calibers – both the self-winding watches with date and the 1904-CH found in the awesome Calibre de Chronograph (detailed review here) are absolutely top tier in every way and until January of this year, we'd only seen them used in bulky, 42 mm Calibre cases. This, however, is a far more elegant use of their in-house chronograph, and in just 40 mm.

Why do we love it?

Because Cartier should be the ultimate in elegant watchmaking, and yet the cases and designs of late have been a little too much for the traditionalist in us. The 40 mm Calibre de Chronograph couples a great movement with nice dials, a reasonable case size, and a killer price –$9,050 in steel.

2. The Montblanc Heritage Chronometrie Ultra Slim

What is it?

This is an ultra-slim, manually wound movement, void of any distractions (looking at you, seconds hands!) that is expertly assembled by a major brand at a price point of $2,045. Montblanc does some amazing high-end things with its Minerva manufacture, and even its more more affordable complications like the world-timer and annual calendar receive a lot of attention, but this watch is a downright killer – coming in thinner than even some very high end dedicated ultra thin watches, with a great Peseux movement and amazing price.

Why do we love it?

Because the idea of a true ultra thin watch, lacking seconds, with a manually wound movement was previously left to the very high end – Lange, Piaget, Vacheron, etc. This watch gives you that look and feel for way less, but still offering good name brand recognition.

Read more here.

3. The New A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1

What is it?

2014 marked the 20th anniversary of the rebirth of Lange, and with it, two decades of the Lange 1. In January of this year, the 21st of Lange 1, we were shown a brand new, totally revamped caliber for this benchmark in modern watchmaking. The Lange 1's original caliber, built during what many would deem a dark period for fine watchmaking, was indeed beautiful and more than adequate. But, in 2015, we saw a completely revamped caliber with some major technical upgrades (read here for a head-to-head comparison), and some supremely subtle but wonderful aesthetic changes – a slightly thinner bezel, more slight script on the font, and a movement diameter that is slightly slimmer and wider, filling the case even better.

Why do we love it?

Because I don't think anyone was complaining about the original Lange 1 Caliber in the least, and Lange absolutely did NOT need to redesign this legendary watch's movement from the ground up with the L1 continuing to be a strong seller. But they did, and an amazing watch just got even better. And that is why Lange is Lange, and why we love them. PS – Lange currently has both old and new L1's in stores now, but not for long, so if you want to see them side-by-side, make your way to a dealer ASAP.

Read more here.