Watches & Wonders 2025 was chock full of incredible new timepieces, but some flew further under the radar than others. We’ve already announced this year’s biggest talking watches, as well as our favourite pieces from the exhibition, but how about the underrated gems that deserve just as much attention as their flashier neighbours?
Our sleeper hits roundup includes subtle tweaks to existing lines, the odd new colourway that breathes fresh life into a design, and a couple of overlooked brands deserving of your attention.
Away from the fanfare and the world record breakers, these are the watches we’d most like to wear on our wrists on a daily basis…
Rolex
Perpetual 1908 with Settimo bracelet
OK, OK, kicking off a list of ‘sleeper hits’ with an 18k yellow gold Rolex might not seem like the most on-the-money take, but let me explain: in the pantheon of Rolex models, the Perpetual 1908 has been chronically underrated since the collection was first launched in 2023, but I’m hopeful that this new iteration will mark its arrival on the big stage.
The name 1908, referring to the year Hans Wilsdorf devised the name ‘Rolex’, tells you all you need to know about this watch’s classic restrained aesthetics, while the excellent Calibre 7140 beating at its heart was the jumping off point for the groundbreaking Calibre 7135 found inside the new Land-Dweller. But the star of the show is undoubtedly the brand-new Settimo bracelet. Composed of seven small contoured links, polished on every surface, it looks and wears like a dream. It features a patented curved attachment system that ensures that the bracelet doesn’t interfere with the shapely 39mm case, and it’s also interchangeable with older Perpetual 1908 models for good measure. Better still, Rolex has confirmed you can buy the bracelet separately.
The Land-Dweller, rightly, has garnered the world’s attention, but this beauty has captured my heart.
Panerai
Luminor Marina
On first view, you might wonder what on earth has changed about the updated Luminor Marina collection, but peer beneath its iconic facade and you’ll find some tangible (and quite significant) improvements to the Neuchâtel brand’s core collection. For starters, Panerai has created a case that is approximately 12% thinner than previous models at 13.7mm and upgraded its water resistance to a whopping 500m. Ever the material innovator, it has also switched out the industry standard 316L stainless steel on the case for the medical-grade 316LVM steel, and raised the level of finishing across the timepiece.
But it hasn’t stopped here. Beating at its heart is the new Calibre P.980 automatic movement, which operates at 4Hz for 72 hours. The headline here is a newly imagined movement architecture that has improved its overall durability and shock resistance – it’s also viewable through a new sapphire back crystal.
Of course, little has changed about the Luminor family’s aesthetics since it was first launched in 1993 – including the 44mm wide cushion-style case and its distinctive crown protection system, alongside that iconic sandwich dial – but there’s a fair argument to say the collection has never been a better proposition than it is now. It’s available in either steel or titanium, with four different dial colour options.
Overall, it’s highly impressive stuff from Panerai.
Chopard
L.U.C Quattro
The Quattro is a name that is more synonymous with German motoring than Swiss watchmaking, but both offer a little Vorsprung durch Technik (‘progress through technology’) in their own way. In the case of Chopard, the Quattro in question refers to a first-of-its-kind four-barrel movement that delivers an astonishing nine-day power reserve – one of the longest running times of any production wristwatch. This is impressive enough, but the fact the calibre is an ultra-thin 3.7mm in height and has been certified by COSC as a chronometer elevates it into the upper echelons of movement innovations.
To celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2025, Chopard has released two new iterations of the Quattro in rose gold and platinum respectively. The biggest aesthetic change is placing the power reserve indicator, previously pride of place on the dial, on the movement side of the watch – leading to a much cleaner overall look. The case has also been refined with a new 39mm sizing, while the brass dial has a more contemporary frosted texture and features dainty herringbone-shaped markers.
Alpina
Heritage Tropic-Proof Handwinding
Alpina continues to fly under the radar when it comes to its heritage offering and the brand’s latest foray into its 142-year back catalogue is no exception. The Tropic-Proof Handwinding is a faithful recreation of the 1960s original that inspired it, with all of the vintage cues that this entails, including retaining the 34mm sized case, a damn-near identical three-handed dial composition and the charming use of Old Radium Super-LumiNova on both the hands and minute ‘dots’. The modern iteration gains the odd contemporary tweak thanks to a glass box sapphire crystal, a slimmed down 9.25mm case height, as well as a manual-wind movement with 42 hours of autonomy.
There’s either a black or white dial to choose from on a handsome Alcantara strap – both pair perfectly with a safari jacket and a sense of adventure.
IWC
Ingenieur Automatic 40 Limited Edition with green dial
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years, Joseph Konsiniki’s highly anticipated F1 movie is finally due to premiere in the UK on 25 June and it’s primed to take the box office by storm. The film centres around the exploits of veteran racing driver Sonny Hayes, played by Brad Pitt, but it’s his watch that has our attention. Throughout the movie, Pitt’s character wears an Ingenieur SL Jumbo ref 1832, designed by Gerald Genta in 1976, with a bespoke green dial. The prop was created in close collaboration between IWC, Pitt himself, and Cloister Watch Company, but the Schaffhausen brand has marked the occasion with a 1,000-piece limited edition iteration of the rebooted Ingenieur Automatic from 2023.
In all, it amounts to little more than a dial change and some contrasting gold indices, but tonally it’s the most fun that IWC has had so far with the new-look Ingenieur.
A Lange & Sohne
1815 in 34mm
If there was one interesting trend we spotted at this year’s Watches & Wonders, it was a number of brands opting for smaller case sizes than we’ve seen in quite some time. Perhaps the best example of this comes from A Lange & Söhne who has shrunk its entry-level 1815 collection all the way down to 34mm across two blue-dialled variants in white and pink gold respectively. Despite sharing most of the sensibilities of its 38.5mm big brother, this diminutive option saw the German watchmaker go back to the drawing board to create an entirely new movement, the Calibre L152.1.
Architecturally, Lange has fiddled with the proportions of the balance wheel and redesigned the going train, and the results are not only a smaller calibre, but one that is also slimmer – with the case measuring just 6.4mm in height. Those are some impressive proportions for this time-only watch and it wears beautifully on the wrist. Few watches were launched quite so quietly, but this little fella is a pocket rocket, if ever I saw one.
