BY JAY AQUINO

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026

At midnight, the new Rolex Perpetual Padellone changes its day, date and month together. The movement completes the change in a fraction of a second, a fleeting event that is the most interesting part of a watch whose name and appearance look back to the 1940s.

Unveiled in Milan, the Padellone is the second model in Rolex’s Perpetual collection after the 1908, and the first in the line with an annual calendar and moonphase. The name traces back to reference 8171, a 38 mm calendar watch introduced in 1949. Its unusually broad case earned it the Italian collectors’ nickname Padellone, or “large frying pan”, which Rolex has now adopted as a model name.

The new watch retains the original’s recognisable calendar arrangement, with the day and month displayed in two apertures at 12 o’clock. A blue central hand, tipped with a crescent, indicates the date on a scale around the dial’s edge. Below the apertures, a blue enamel disc displays the phases of the moon, its two meteorite moons bearing faces that recall those on the 8171.

IMAGE SOURCE: ROLEX

The 39 mm case has a domed bezel with fluting on its lower edge, while a grained finish gives the dial texture without competing with the calendar indications. Rolex offers an intense white dial in 18 ct Everose gold, either on brown alligator leather or a seven-link Settimo bracelet. The 950 platinum version pairs an ice-blue dial with a black alligator leather strap, while a transparent caseback reveals the movement and the watch is water-resistant to 50 metres.

The original 8171 was a complete-calendar watch outside Rolex’s waterproof Oyster line. The new Padellone brings that less familiar chapter of the company’s history into the Perpetual collection alongside the 1908, though its movement handles the calendar differently.

Despite its place in the Perpetual collection, the Padellone has an annual calendar, not a perpetual one. Its calibre 7190 accounts for 30- and 31-day months, leaving the owner to correct the date once a year, at the end of February. Rolex’s patented Haplos system uses an annual lever and carrier finger to make the adjustment, with the reverse of the month disc telling the lever which month it is.

IMAGE SOURCE: ROLEX

At midnight, the day, date and month jump forward together, keeping all three indications aligned. Rolex says the five-hertz calibre has a power reserve of approximately 66 hours and is the subject of 30 patent applications, two exclusive to the Padellone. For the wearer, that engineering becomes visible in a single, near-instant change.

Sales are expected to begin in November. Published US launch prices are US$59,000 for Everose gold on leather, US$66,200 for platinum and US$72,800 for Everose gold on the Settimo bracelet. What began as a nickname for an unusual silhouette now belongs to a watch whose most intricate feat takes a fraction of a second.

Discover Rolex Perpetual Padellone here.