The new Rolex Perpetual Padellone, The Return of an Icon now with Annual Calendar and Dynapulse (Incl. Video)

It is not often that Rolex introduces a new watch outside of the industry’s main exhibition, Watches and Wonders (or Baselworld before it). In fact, in recent years, it has only happened on very rare occasions, such as the release of the Daytona Le Mans, the record-breaking Deepsea Challenge in titanium or the Deepsea D-Blue Dial. But things are changing at Rolex, which has become more creative than before. Today is yet another demonstration of the Crown’s evolution. Not so much because of the timing, but because of what we’ll be looking at: a complex, vintage-inspired dress watch, equipped with an annual calendar, an unprecedented movement and paying tribute to one of the brand’s most niche watches, the “Padellone” Reference 8171 Triple Calendar Moonphase. And as you’ve guessed from the name of this new creation, Rolex now even acknowledges the nickname and makes it official. Let’s discover the new Rolex Perpetual Padellone. 

The Origins: The Rolex Reference 8171 Triple Calendar Moonphase “Padellone”

While Rolex has been known since 1926 for its waterproof watches – all built around the Oyster Case, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year – and emblematic models such as the Submariner, the GMT-Master, the Day-Date, the Datejust, the Explorer or the Daytona, there are some oddities to be found in the brand’s history. One of them is the so-called Padellone: an elegant, complex, oversized watch born in 1949, and one of only two Rolex watches equipped with a triple calendar function and a moonphase. Indeed, the only other watch to feature this configuration was the reference 6062, a complex evolution of the Datejust, with an Oyster case and a 36mm diameter. 

What makes the Rolex 8171 Padellone special, then? Well, many things. As said, it is a fairly complex watch relying on a traditional complication: a triple calendar with a peripheral date track and central pointer, two apertures at 12 o’clock for the day or the week and the month, and a small seconds with moon phase display at 6 o’clock, with a hand-engraved disc. Something quite whimsical and classic that you’d expect from Audemars Piguet or Vacheron Constantin, maybe not so much from Rolex. But this is only one part of the story. 

First launched in 1949, four years after the Datejust and its Oyster case, the Rolex Triple Calendar Moonphase 8171 Padellone was short-lived. It went out of production in 1953, just like the Oyster 6062, and was produced in about 1,000 to 1,200 pieces, according to scholarship. It was originally available in steel or yellow gold, with a slight bias towards steel models in the production numbers. All were fitted with silver-coloured dials, blue numerals for the date, and two different configurations for the markers, pointy batons or facetted triangles (silver-tone or gold), mostly paired with Dauphine hands. 

The Rolex 8171 Padellone was a large watch, measuring 38mm in diameter (an oddity back in the late 1940s), which explains its Italian nickname meaning “large frying pan” in English. And while the Oyster case was already well established at the moment of its creation, the Padellone isn’t one of these waterproof watches, as it came with a snap caseback. Inside the case was an automatic “Perpetual” movement, with a 360-rotor and chronometer certification: the calibre A295 CPL. The case was large, sharp, topped by a polished, angular bezel… nothing that would be associated with Rolex as we know it today. The Rolex Reference 8171 Triple Calendar Moonphase Padellone is unique, particularly appealing and something of a unicorn in the brand’s history. And, against all odds, the overall concept is back, with Rolex even officially naming it now the Padellone.

The new Rolex Perpetual Padellone

The new Perpetual Padellone relies, design-wise at least, on the foundations of the Perpetual 1908 collection, Rolex’s take on the dress watch. What it does, however, is add a layer of complexity to the display and movement, as it features a full annual calendar and moonphase display (deeply inspired by the original 8171 Padellone), as well as a movement built on the architecture of the calibre 7135 with Dynapulse escapement, first presented in the Land-Dweller. In short, as classical as this new Padellone looks, it is far from old-school in terms of watchmaking. And in a way, it could also be seen as an evolution of the Cellini Moonphase released in 2017, which, however, was a simpler watch with only a date and moon phase.

So, let’s talk about the case first. The Rolex Perpetual Padellone, as said, is part of the Perpetual collection and shares most of its specifications and design with the 1908 models. Housed in an 18k Everose gold (new to the collection) or 950 platinum case, it measures 39mm in diameter, 12.20mm in thickness and about 45mm from one lug to another – approximately the same footprint as the Perpetual 1908, with some extra thickness due to the complication – making it a modern take on the dress watch, but also barely larger than the original Padellone. As with previous Perpetual models, the lugs adopt a gentle chamfering on their top edges.

The case retains the same domed and finely fluted bezel, paired with a domed sapphire crystal. All surfaces of the case are polished, resulting in a rather classic style, and the flanks now feature recessed correctors for the calendar functions – month at 2 o’clock, date at 4 o’clock, moonphase at 8 o’clock and day at 10 o’clock (a crown-operated solution would have been better). For the rest, the case features a screwed, fluted caseback with a sapphire crystal, a classic push-pull crown and water-resistance is rated at 50m.

In line with what you imagine from a Padellone watch, the dial of the new Rolex Perpetual Padellone adopts a classic full calendar and moonphase layout, meaning a date track at the periphery of the dial, paired with a pointer date hand, a pair of apertures at 12 o’clock indicating the current day of the week and the month (in English), together with a moon phase indicator at 6 o’clock. There are, however, some subtleties to be explained. More on that in a few.

But first, the dial itself. Available in Intense White for the Everose gold models, and in Ice Blue for the platinum version (a classic for 950Pt watches at Rolex), the dial has a new matte grained finish for most of its surface, framed by a raised track for the date, with a fine satin finish. A blue centre hand, with a crescent moon at its tip, points to the current date. A difference from the vintage Padellone is the centre seconds; however, the handset is classic Perpetual, with an open-tip hour hand and a pencil minute hand. Also in line with the 1908, there are applied numerals at 3 and 9 o’clock, and facetted hour markers at other positions. All elements are either rose or white gold, depending on the case’s material.

The moon indication at 6 o’clock is also fairly delicate in its execution, just like it was on the Cellini Moonphase. It is composed of a blue enamelled disc at its base, and makes one complete rotation every lunar month, or 29.53 days. The full moon and new moon are made from meteorite, in silver with a black pad-printed face for the full moon, and in blue PVD with silver printings for the new moon. The silver stars are also pad-printed. Rolex adopts a very classic style here, enhanced by high-end materials.

As for securing the Rolex Perpetual Padellone to the wrist, options will depend on the case’s material. The Everose gold model and the platinum version are both available, respectively, on a matt brown or matte black alligator leather strap, with green calfskin lining, tone-on-tone stitching and the same Dualclasp (double folding clasp), the same that is found on the Perpetual 1908. Exclusive to the Everose gold model is the highly appealing Settimo bracelet, introduced first in yellow gold back in 2025. Composed of 7 rounded, polished links, it is attached to the case with a curved end link, through a system that is patented. It is closed by a concealed folding Crownclasp.

The new calibre 7190, with annual calendar and Dynapulse escapement

At the heart of the Perpetual Padellone is a movement that is far more advanced than what the original Padellone reference 8171 used to have. Thinner and more decorated than the majority of Rolex in-house movements, the calibre 7190 shares its base architecture with the calibre 7140 of the Perpetual 1908, of course, but also and mostly with the calibre 7135 found in the Land-Dweller. What does it mean? Well, a high-frequency automatic movement equipped with a new annual calendar function and the brand’s Dynapulse escapement.

Highly innovative and exclusive to Rolex, the Dynapulse escapement is part of a high-performance regulating system. Not to be confused with a natural escapement, it is a pioneering geometry that combines high-frequency and high efficiency, being a sequential distribution escapement approximately 30 per cent more efficient than a conventional Swiss lever escapement. It is a double-wheel, indirect-tangential impulse escapement made almost entirely from silicon, using highly complex yet surprisingly organic geometry for its two wheels and focused almost entirely on efficiency. And this makes it possible for Rolex to jump the frequency to 5Hz or 36,000 vibrations/hour while not consuming more energy and not taking more space than a more traditional Chronergy escapement. In addition, the calibre 7190, like the movement of the Land-Dweller, incorporates a Syloxi hairspring in silicon, a balance staff in ceramic, a balance wheel with variable inertia, a traversing balance bridge, and optimised high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers. For more details about the technology, you can read this in-depth article.

Then there’s the calendar part of this movement, integrated within the calibre 7190, using an annual calendar (not a first for Rolex, as the Sky-Dweller already uses this function) but with a new system named Haplos – a patent application has been filed for this system. It consists of only two components coupled to the date mechanism: an additional carrier finger and an annual lever. Another technical innovation: the annual calendar programming is incorporated into the reverse side of the month disc, informing the annual lever of the current month. The changes of date, day and month take place instantaneously at midnight, and with a secure rapid setting. As you’d expect from an annual calendar, it takes account of 30-day and 31-day months, and will only require a single adjustment per year, at the end of February.

The movement itself, visible from the back of the watch, is visually identical to the Land-Dweller’s calibre 7135, with bridges decorated with Rolex Côtes de Genève, chatons around some of the jewels, and an oscillating weight fashioned in ­solid yellow gold. Despite its 5Hz frequency and additional annual calendar function, the movement boasts a 66-hour power reserve and, as all Rolex watches, it comes with the Superlative Chronometer certification, with strengthened criteria since 2026 (three new testing criteria: resistance to magnetism, reliability and sustainability), and an accuracy between –2 and +2 seconds per day.

Availability & price

All three versions of the Rolex Perpetual Padellone are released as part of the permanent collection. The reference 53505-0002 in Everose gold with a leather strap retails for CHF 52,500. The model worn on the Settimo bracelet (ref. 53505-0003) is priced at CHF 64,800, and the platinum edition, reference 53506-0002, with an ice-blue dial, comes at CHF 59,000. All prices include taxes.

Altogether, this is an impressive new watch from Rolex, which combines the brand’s impressive knowledge in advanced, innovative watchmaking by combining the Dynapulse escapement with an instantaneous and yet extremely simple annual calendar, all housed in a watch that is elegant, refined, beautifully finished and paying tribute to one of Rolex’s most praised vintage references… A turning point in the brand’s strategy.

For more details, please visit rolex.com.