Rolex has revived a 1950s collector favourite as a 39mm annual calendar with moonphase. Here is what carried over from the original, and what is new.
Padellone is Italian for big frying pan. Collectors gave the name to a Rolex from around 1949 because, at 38mm, it was large for its time. Rolex has now made the nickname official.
The new Perpetual Padellone launched in Milan on 15 September 2026. It is 39mm, one millimetre bigger than the original. It is an annual calendar with moonphase, and almost everything inside it is new.
The watch it comes from
The original is the ref. 8171, made from about 1949 to 1952 or 53. It was a complete calendar with moonphase, also called a triple calendar, in steel, yellow gold or pink gold. Along with the ref. 6062, it is one of only two triple calendars Rolex made in the vintage era.
Under the dial sat an automatic A.295 movement with 18 jewels. The case was three-piece, not an Oyster, with a snap-on back and an acrylic crystal. It had no water resistance.
The dial carried the words Rolex Perpetual. Perpetual is Rolex’s word for its self-winding system. That is why the name of the new watch is not a claim about the calendar. The word is even engraved on the new rotor.
What stayed the same
The layout. Day and month sit in twin apertures at 12. The date is read by a central hand pointing at a track around the edge. The moonphase sits at 6. That is how the 8171 worked, and Rolex has kept it.
The new date hand is blue, with a crescent moon at its tip. The date track runs from 1 to 31. Applied Arabic numerals mark 3 and 9, with batons everywhere else.
What changed
| Ref. 8171 (c. 1949 to 1953) | Perpetual Padellone (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 38mm | 39mm |
| Calendar | Complete (triple), corrected by hand at the end of short months | Annual, one correction a year |
| Movement | Automatic A.295, 18 jewels | Calibre 7190, 35 jewels, 5Hz, about 66 hours |
| Seconds | Small seconds, sharing the 6 o’clock subdial with the moonphase | Central sweep seconds, moonphase disc on its own at 6 |
| Crystal | Acrylic | Domed sapphire, anti-reflective |
| Case back | Snap-on | Screw-down sapphire display back |
| Water resistance | None | 50 metres |
| Bezel | Smooth | Lower part fluted, upper part domed |
| Materials | Steel, yellow gold, pink gold | 18 ct Everose gold or 950 platinum |
The calendar
This is the biggest change, so it is worth slowing down.
The old watch knew the day, the date and the month, but it could not tell a 30-day month from a 31-day one. At the end of every short month, you had to advance the date by hand. By my count that is at least five times a year: February, April, June, September and November.
The new watch does not need that. The day and month sit on two small discs under the dial, and the date hand runs on the outer track. Rolex calls its system Haplos, and it adds only two parts to the date mechanism: a carrier finger and an annual lever. A pattern cut into the back of the month disc tells the watch which months have 30 days and which have 31.
The result is one adjustment a year, when February turns to March. At midnight, the day, date and month change together, in a fraction of a second.
The calendar still has to be set. Four correctors on the case band handle day, date, month and moonphase. Rolex says they can be used at any time of day without harming the movement.
The movement
Through the sapphire back you can see the rotor, the part that winds the watch as you move. It is engraved Perpetual.
Calibre 7190 beats at 5Hz. That is 36,000 beats an hour, or ten a second. Power reserve is about 66 hours. Take it off fully wound on a Friday evening and it should still be running on Monday morning. That is my arithmetic, not a Rolex claim.
The escapement is called Dynapulse. It is made of silicon, it resists strong magnetic fields, and Rolex has filed seven patent applications on it. It gives the impulse directly to the balance. The efficiency claim, about 30% better than a conventional Swiss lever, is Rolex’s own, and I have not seen independent testing.
The hairspring is Syloxi, also silicon, and the balance staff is ceramic. In total the calibre is covered by 30 patent applications, two exclusive to it. Press coverage describes it as built on the architecture of the 7135 from the Land-Dweller, though Rolex does not say so in the text I read.
It is also certified as a Superlative Chronometer. Since 2026 that certification adds three criteria: resistance to magnetism, reliability and sustainability. The daily accuracy window is -2 to +2 seconds.
The case, dial and straps
The case is 39mm wide and 12.2mm thick, with chamfered lug edges. The bezel is split, fluted below and domed above. A corrector sits on the case flank. Both the crystal and the case back are sapphire.
The dial has a grained finish with a satin edge and a raised date scale around the outside. The moon disc is blue enamel and turns once every 29.53 days. The full and new moons are meteorite, and the face on each moon is pad printed.
The Settimo bracelet has seven small, slightly contoured links, polished on every surface. On the Everose gold version it closes with a concealed folding Crownclasp.
There are three versions. Everose gold with an intense white dial comes on the Settimo bracelet or on matt brown alligator. The 950 platinum version has an ice blue dial and comes on matt black alligator. The alligator straps are lined in green calfskin and close with a Dualclasp.
One early hands-on report says it wears much like the Perpetual 1908, a dial-forward dress watch. I have not handled it myself.
What We Think
The calendar is the upgrade you would feel most. Going from five corrections a year to one changes how you live with a watch like this. Everything else is engineering you never see.
It still asks for care. The moon has its own corrector, which tells me it will need resetting now and then. If the watch stops after its reserve runs out, I would expect to reset the whole calendar. That last point is my inference, not Rolex’s.
The 7190 is built for a wrist that meets magnets and water every day, which the 8171 never faced. At 50 metres, though, I would still treat the new one as a dress watch. Rolex’s efficiency claim for Dynapulse also needs independent data before I would repeat it as fact.
I have not worn it, so I cannot say how 12.2mm of thickness sits on the wrist.
The face is the 1950s. Almost everything else is 2026.
The Specs
The Basics
- Case: 18 ct Everose gold or 950 platinum, 39mm x 12.2mm
- Lug to lug: About 45mm.
- Dial: Grained finish, satin edge. Intense white (Everose), ice blue (platinum)
- Bezel: Fluted lower part, domed upper part
- Water resistance: 50m
- Crystal: Domed sapphire, anti-reflective. Sapphire display back, anti-reflective
- Strap/bracelet: Settimo bracelet (seven contoured links, polished), or matt brown or black alligator with green calfskin lining
- Clasp: Crownclasp (Everose, bracelet) or Dualclasp (alligator versions)
The Movement
- Calibre: 7190, self-winding (Perpetual rotor)
- Functions: Hours, minutes, sweep seconds, day, date, month, moonphase, instantaneous annual calendar
- Calendar system: Haplos, one adjustment a year (end of February)
- Frequency: 5Hz (36,000 vph)
- Power reserve: About 66 hours
- Jewels: 35
- Escapement: Dynapulse (silicon), Syloxi hairspring, ceramic balance staff
- Certification: Superlative Chronometer, -2/+2 seconds a day
- Patents: 30 applications, two exclusive to the 7190
Pricing & Availability
Launch pricing in Australia is listed as follows:
- Everose, alligator: A$98,700
- 950 platinum, alligator: A$110,900
- Everose, Settimo bracelet: A$121,800
