Rolex Perpetual Padellone: the return of an icon, reimagined for its time

With the Perpetual Padellone, unveiled in 2026, Rolex revives the spirit of reference 8171, a full calendar watch produced in the early 1950s. Behind this historical lineage, the Geneva manufacture introduces a new annual complication, a high-frequency movement and a time display that pairs calendar indications with moon phases.

Some names belong to a brand’s official history, while others are born among collectors. Padellone falls into the second category. This Italian nickname, which translates roughly as “big frying pan”, refers to the Rolex reference 8171, recognisable by its large case and its full calendar with moon phases.

More than seven decades after that first interpretation, Rolex takes up the name again for a new watch in the collection Perpetual. The intention is clear: to recapture the codes of a classic watch while integrating the most recent mechanical developments of the manufacture. But beyond the tribute, how much of the 8171 really remains in this new Padellone?

Reference 8171, a Rolex apart in the brand’s history

Produced in the late 1940s and early 1950s, reference 8171 holds a special place in Rolex history. At a time when the brand was already building its expertise in waterproof and automatic watches, it offered a piece whose appeal also rested on calendar complications.

The 8171 displays the day, date, month and moon phases. Its dial brings together several indications without giving up a relatively structured layout. Its case, unusually large for the period, earned it its nickname among Italian collectors.

This watch reflects another side of Rolex, less directly associated with the world of professional watches. It is a reminder that the manufacture was interested not only in robustness and precision, but also in complications that give time a more everyday and astronomical dimension.

The new Perpetual Padellone therefore does not try to reproduce the historical reference identically. It takes up its principle, its indications and some of its aesthetic codes, while adapting them to contemporary requirements.

A dial that keeps the spirit of the 8171

The first thing the two watches share is the arrangement of the indications. The new Padellone retains the full calendar and the moon phase display, the two elements that define the identity of reference 8171.

On the 2026 model, the day and month appear in two apertures at 12 o’clock. The date is shown by a blue central hand tipped with a crescent moon, which travels around a peripheral scale. At 6 o’clock, a disc dedicated to the lunar phases completes the display.

Rolex has also paid close attention to the dial finishes. Its main surface has a grained texture, while its periphery features a fine satin finish. This contrast in texture sets the display areas apart without adding superfluous decoration.

The moon disc deserves particular attention. Made in blue enamel, it completes one rotation in 29.53 days, matching the average length of a lunar cycle. The full moon and the new moon are represented by meteorite elements, the latter treated with a dark blue PVD coating. Silver stars complete the composition.

The choice of meteorite creates a further link with the watch’s astronomical theme. It also gives a material presence to a complication that might otherwise remain just one more indication on the dial.

From reference 8171 to the Perpetual Padellone: the key changes

Comparing the two generations reveals an evolution that goes well beyond a change in size or materials. The new watch keeps the historical functions, but improves their mechanical integration and their ease of use.

The case: reference 8171 is known for its relatively large, flat case, which gave it its nickname. The new Padellone measures 39 mm in diameter, with a bezel combining a fluted lower section and a domed upper section. The design evokes classic watchmaking, but the proportions and finishes meet today’s standards. The case is made of 18 ct Everose gold or 950 platinum.

The calendar: both watches display the day, date, month and moon phases. The major difference lies in how the calendar is managed. The historical reference lacks the automatic annual calendar system announced for the new version. The 2026 Padellone distinguishes between 30- and 31-day months and therefore needs only one correction a year, when February turns to March.

The change of indications: the new version advances the day, date and month simultaneously at midnight, in a fraction of a second. This instantaneous jump is a significant step forward both in the user experience and in the design of the mechanism.

The movement: the 8171 belongs to a generation of mechanical watches designed with the solutions available in the early 1950s. The new Padellone is fitted with calibre 7190, a self-winding movement developed and manufactured by Rolex, featuring a Dynapulse escapement, a Syloxi hairspring and the Haplos annual calendar system.

The caseback: the new Padellone has a transparent caseback that reveals the movement and its finishes. It offers a different way of reading the watch from a historical piece, highlighting the manufacture’s mechanical and decorative craftsmanship.

This comparison shows that Rolex is not simply reissuing an old reference. The brand takes a familiar functional architecture and develops it into a more autonomous complication, built into a movement designed to meet current requirements.

Calibre 7190: the heart of the novelty

The main evolution of the Perpetual Padellone lies inside the case. Its calibre 7190 is a new-generation automatic movement, developed on the basis of calibre 7135, introduced with the Land-Dweller in 2025.

It beats at a frequency of 5 Hz, or 36,000 vibrations per hour. This high frequency contributes to the oscillator’s performance and reflects a pursuit of chronometric precision. It does, however, call for rigorous energy management, which is especially important in a movement driving several calendar indications.

Calibre 7190 notably adopts the Dynapulse escapement, designed to improve energy efficiency while maintaining a high level of operating reliability. Made of silicon, it is also resistant to strong magnetic fields.

The movement features a silicon Syloxi hairspring. Its geometry was developed to promote consistent rate in different positions. The balance, for its part, benefits from a high-tech ceramic staff, paired with optimised Paraflex shock absorbers.

The package is completed by self-winding via a Perpetual rotor and a power reserve of approximately 66 hours.

Rolex reports 30 patent applications linked to calibre 7190, two of them exclusive to the Padellone. This figure illustrates the importance placed on the mechanical development of this watch. On its own, however, it is not a measure of superiority: the movement’s real interest lies in the concrete solutions it brings to the calendar and to regulation.

Haplos: an annual calendar that cuts down on corrections

The Haplos system is the innovation most directly tied to the Padellone’s primary function. A classic full calendar displays the day, date and month, but does not necessarily account for the varying length of the months. Depending on its architecture, it may therefore need several corrections over the course of the year.

An annual calendar goes further: it automatically distinguishes between 30- and 31-day months. Only the transition from February to March requires a manual adjustment. It should not be confused with a perpetual calendar, which also takes leap years into account.

Rolex built Haplos around two components added to the date mechanism: an additional driving finger and an annual lever. The calendar programming is integrated into the back of the month disc. It tells the lever the length of the current month, so that the mechanism can adjust accordingly.

This architecture handles the different month lengths without multiplying components. It helps integrate the complication into calibre 7190, rather than treating it as a separate module.

Another distinctive feature: at midnight, the day, date and month change simultaneously, in a fraction of a second. The indications thus stay aligned as one day passes into the next.

Haplos therefore offers a twofold benefit. The system reduces the corrections needed in daily use and ensures a coordinated changeover of the calendar information. It is on this point that the new Padellone differs most clearly from its ancestor.

A classic aesthetic, with contemporary choices

The 39 mm case stays true to a dress-watch approach. Its bezel combines fluting with a domed surface, while the lugs feature slightly chamfered upper edges. The domed sapphire crystal and the transparent caseback are both anti-reflective coated. Water resistance is rated at 50 metres.

Three versions are available. The first pairs 18 ct Everose gold with an intense white dial and a Settimo metal bracelet. The second also uses Everose gold, on a matt brown alligator leather strap. The third, in 950 platinum, stands out with its ice blue dial and matt black alligator strap.

The Settimo bracelet is also worth mentioning. Its links are made up of seven small, polished, slightly domed elements, designed to follow the contours of the wrist. It is fitted with a concealed Crownclasp folding clasp and a patent-pending system for attaching it to the middle case.

The leather versions come with a Dualclasp in 950 platinum, designed to keep the watch centred on the wrist.

These choices allow Rolex to differentiate the three versions without altering the dial concept. The brand keeps a shared identity while playing on the colour of the metal, the finishes and the type of strap or bracelet.

Superlative Chronometer certification strengthened in 2026

The Perpetual Padellone carries the Superlative Chronometer certification. The announced precision for a finished watch must fall between −2 and +2 seconds per day, after the movement has been cased.

Since 2026, Rolex has also strengthened its protocol with three additional criteria: magnetic resistance, reliability and durability. These are added to the tests already covering precision, water resistance, self-winding and power reserve.

This development is consistent with the technical choices made for calibre 7190. The use of silicon components, the architecture of the oscillator and the shock protection devices all contribute to stability and reliability under varied conditions of use.

The certification is therefore not limited to a precision figure measured in a laboratory. It is part of a broader approach aimed at guaranteeing the watch’s performance on the wrist.

The Padellone, between heritage and watchmaking development

With the Perpetual Padellone, Rolex puts the spotlight back on a side of its history that has nothing to do with dive watches or sports models. Reference 8171 had already shown that the brand could combine a full calendar, moon phases and a classic aesthetic.

The 2026 version preserves this identity, but places it in a different technical context. Calibre 7190, the Dynapulse escapement and the Haplos system reflect work focused as much on the movement’s efficiency as on the ease of use of its complications.

The appeal of this new release therefore lies not only in its historical name or its looks. It lies in the way Rolex has taken a full calendar watch and turned it into an instantaneous annual calendar, with a correction needed just once a year.

The Padellone does not seek to reproduce the past. It takes up its codes and functions to offer a contemporary interpretation, in which heritage serves as the starting point for genuine watchmaking development.

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