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- Rolex has revived the collector-favourite “Padellone” name for a new 39-mm annual-calendar moonphase in its Perpetual collection.
- The new calibre 7190 combines a 5Hz Dynapulse escapement with Rolex’s new Haplos annual-calendar system and a 66-hour power reserve.
- Rolex will offer three versions in Everose gold and platinum, with prices starting at USD$59,000 (roughly AUD$83,000).
Rolex has gone digging through its back catalogue for its latest release, bringing back one of the more unusual names from its calendar-watch history.
The new Perpetual Padellone (Ref. 53505 / 53506) takes its name from the Rolex Ref. 8171 of the early 1950s, a complete-calendar moonphase nicknamed “Padellone” by Italian collectors. Rolex watches have been earning nicknames for quite a while now, and this one (via a rough translation) hilariously means “large frying pan”. It’s a considerably less-than-elegant way to describe a watch as refined as this, and yet, here we are.
The vintage influence is obvious, but Rolex has rebuilt the original idea around an entirely new annual-calendar movement, making this new Padellone the most mechanically ambitious addition yet to the Perpetual collection, launched in 2023 with the 1908. Large frying pan or not, this Padellone serves up a hearty serving of eye candy for us all to enjoy. Although at nearly AUD$83K, only a lucky few will be wearing this one out on the town.
1/3Rolex Brings Back the Padellone
The original Ref. 8171 was actually quite a sizeable watch for its time. Measuring around 38mm and combining a triple calendar with a moonphase display, it was impressive for its time. The new Perpetual Padellone has grown ever so slightly to 39mm, but the family resemblance is plain as day.
It features the same general calendar layout, with day and month apertures at 12 o’clock, a moonphase at 6 o’clock and a pointer date running around the outside of the dial. Rolex has modernised the package with a grained dial, Arabic numerals at three and nine, and a bezel that combines a domed upper section with fluting underneath. Very nice.
Now, I’m a sucker for anything with a moonphase complication, and my eyes went exploring there immediately. Its blue enamelled disc uses pieces of meteorite for both the full and new moons, with the latter finished in dark blue PVD and surrounded by pad-printed silver stars.
But here’s the thing about the new Padellone. Despite being called the Perpetual, it’s not actually a perpetual calendar. Rolex uses “Perpetual” across its self-winding movements, while the Padellone itself uses an annual calendar. That means it can automatically account for 30- and 31-day months, but you’ll still need to correct it once a year whenever February rolls around. February has to spoil the fun somehow.
1/7Rolex Perpetual Padellone – Key Specs
- Case: 39mm, 18 ct Everose gold or 950 platinum
- Water resistance: 50 metres
- Movement: Rolex calibre 7190, automatic
- Calendar: Instantaneous annual calendar with day, date and month
- Moonphase: Blue enamel disc with meteorite full and new moons
- Frequency: 5Hz / 36,000 vibrations per hour
- Power reserve: Approx. 66 hours
- Bracelet/strap: Settimo bracelet or alligator leather
- Prices:
- Ref. 53505-0002, 18 ct Everose gold, white dial, brown alligator strap: USD$59,000 (roughly AUD$83,000).
- Ref. 53506-0002, 950 platinum, ice-blue dial, black alligator strap: USD$66,200 (roughly AUD$93,000).
- Ref. 53505-0003, 18 ct Everose gold, white dial, Settimo bracelet: USD$72,800 (roughly AUD$102,000).
1/5A Much More Serious Perpetual ‘Frying Pan’
The new calibre 7190 handles the annual calendar, which Rolex says is protected by 30 patent applications. That’s a lot of documentation for one movement, but the useful part is what the calibre 7190 actually does differently.
The movement uses similar architecture to the calibre 7135 introduced with the Land-Dweller in 2025, including Rolex’s silicon Dynapulse escapement and 5Hz operating frequency. That 5Hz rate means the movement beats 36,000 times per hour, compared with the 28,800 you’ll see in plenty of modern mechanical watches. The new element here is Haplos, an annual-calendar system Rolex says needs just two additional components to distinguish between 30- and 31-day months.
In practice, that means you won’t have to manually reset the date at the end of April, June, September or November. February is the only month that can’t sort itself out. And for anyone actually reading the dial at midnight, the date, day and month all jump instantaneously rather than slowly dragging themselves across their displays.
The calibre 7190 also offers about 66 hours of power reserve, enough to take it off Friday night and, assuming it’s fully wound, still find it ticking when you reach for it again on Monday morning. And because (almost) every watch enthusiast loves to see the insides, the Padellone’s transparent caseback gives you a full view of the movement. It’s relatively uncommon territory for the Crown, with the movement getting Rolex Côtes de Genève finishing and a cut-out yellow-gold rotor.
The case is water-resistant to 50 metres, half the 100-metre rating you’ll find on something like a Datejust. It’s another sign that the Padellone is deliberately planted on the classical side of the Rolex catalogue.
1/7Price and Availability
Rolex will offer the Padellone in three configurations: Everose gold with a brown alligator strap, platinum with a black alligator strap, and Everose gold on a new seven-link Settimo bracelet with a concealed Crownclasp.
As already mentioned, these won’t be cheap. The new Padellone starts at USD$59,000 (roughly AUD$83,000) and tops out at USD$72,800 (roughly AUD$102,000) for the Everose model on the Settimo bracelet. As for us here in Australia, Rolex hasn’t confirmed local pricing or an on-sale date.
That’s serious money, even by Rolex standards, and it puts the Padellone into a corner of the market where buyers can start looking at complicated dress watches from the likes of Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, and A. Lange & Söhne.
But for something this historic, it says more about where Rolex is taking the Perpetual collection than anything else. In 1908, the line was established as the brand’s modern dress-watch home. The Padellone gives it considerably more mechanical substance.
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