In 1949, Rolex released Reference 8171, an unconventional 38mm complete calendar wristwatch whose expansive, flat profile prompted Italian collectors to name it the Padellone, meaning large frying pan. Built with a non-Oyster snap-on back and retired after 1952, the reference became an eccentric legend, marking one of only two vintage wristwatches from the Geneva house to unite a triple calendar with a moonphase. For more than seven decades, the manufacture left classical calendar complications dormant, focusing on utilitarian tool-watch cases until opening a new formal chapter with the 1908 in 2023. Bridging that historical gap, the Rolex Perpetual Padellone is an instantaneous complete annual calendar wristwatch in 18ct Everose gold and 950 platinum, driven by the 5Hz Calibre 7190, released September 15. Adopting a collector moniker as an official model name, the piece introduces the first high complication to the modern dress collection without copying vintage mechanics.
Mechanical operation relies on the self-winding Calibre 7190, beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour beneath 30 patent applications. The Perpetual label designates the dress product family rather than a multi-century calendar mechanism, employing an annual system that demands adjustment once a year as February yields to March. To trigger instantaneous midnight shifts across the day, date, and month, Geneva engineers developed the patented Haplos system, which eliminates multi-wheel gear assemblies by using two components connected to the date wheel: an auxiliary drive finger and a pivoting annual lever. Monthly day profiles are machined on the reverse face of the month disc, instructing the lever whether a cycle measures 30 or 31 days. Rolex anchored this calendar module to the regulating organ of Calibre 7135, introduced on the Land-Dweller in 2025. The high-beat assembly pairs a silicon Dynapulse escapement with a thick-coiled Syloxi hairspring, a high-tech ceramic balance staff, and Paraflex shock absorbers across 35 jewels, delivering 66 hours of autonomous operation.Rolex Perpetual Padellone 2026.
Case dimensions widen the vintage 38mm blueprint to 39 millimeters, measuring 12.2 millimeters in thickness with 45.1 millimeters across the lug horns and a 20-millimeter strap span. The perimeter bezel divides into two distinct treatments, mounting a domed polished surface above a finely fluted lower ring. Four flush correctors machined into the caseband allow independent adjustments for the calendar windows and moonphase. Below a domed sapphire crystal, the dial contrasts a grained center against a satin-finished perimeter track traced by a blue-coated central pointer with an open crescent tip. At six o'clock, an aperture reveals a blue vitreous enamel disc completing a rotation every 29.53 days. Meteorite slices form both lunar discs, with the new moon treated in dark blue physical vapor deposition. Pad-printed silver stars surround both spheres, each bearing facial expressions that recall the artwork of the 1949 original.
Precious-metal casework divides into Reference 53505 in 18ct Everose gold and Reference 53506 in 950 platinum, both sealed to 50 meters of water resistance. Everose models feature an intense white dial, pairing with a matte brown alligator strap lined in green calfskin for CHF 52,500 (approximately $64,100) or the seven-link Settimo metal bracelet with a concealed clasp for CHF 64,800 (approximately $79,100). The platinum execution mounts an ice-blue dial on a matte black alligator band priced at CHF 59,000 (approximately $72,000). Visible through the sapphire caseback, a cut-out yellow-gold oscillating weight winds the movement across bridge plates finished in Geneva stripes separated by polished grooves.
