Rolex revives the Padellone with a new annual calendar and moon phase
On 15 September 2026, Rolex introduced a kind of watch it has not offered in a modern series for decades: a complete calendar with a moon phase, housed in a new model called the Perpetual Padellone.
A new complication for the Perpetual line
The Padellone is a 39 mm watch offered in 18 ct Everose gold or 950 platinum. It is only the second model in Rolex's dressier Perpetual collection, following the 1908 that arrived in 2023, and it was announced in Milan rather than at a trade fair. Rolex says the movement is protected by 30 patent applications — a striking figure for a brand better known for incremental change.
The dial shows hours, minutes and seconds alongside the date, day and month. A blue-coated central hand ends in a crescent moon and points to a date scale around the edge; day and month appear in twin apertures at 12 o'clock, and the moon phase sits at 6 o'clock. The moon disc is blue enamel and completes one rotation every 29.53 days, with the new and full moons rendered in meteorite. The case measures 12.20 mm thick, is water-resistant to 50 metres, and carries correctors in its flanks for the calendar functions. The bezel is domed and subtly fluted, the crystal is domed sapphire with double anti-reflective coating, and the screw-down case back is fitted with sapphire.
Calibre 7190 and the Haplos system
Inside is calibre 7190, an automatic movement exclusive to the Padellone. It runs at 36,000 vibrations per hour — five hertz — and provides roughly 66 hours of power reserve. The annual calendar is driven by what Rolex calls the Haplos system: an additional carrier finger and an annual lever added to the instantaneous date mechanism, with the programming that distinguishes 30- from 31-day months cut into the reverse of the month disc. Day, date and month change simultaneously at midnight, so the calendar needs correcting only once a year, at the end of February. As SJX notes, the moon phase itself is accurate to within a day over 122 years.
The Everose gold version is offered on a matt brown alligator strap or on Rolex's seven-link Settimo bracelet, which uses a concealed Crownclasp. The platinum reference has an ice-blue grained dial on a matt black alligator strap. Both straps use a green calfskin lining with tone-on-tone stitching and a Dualclasp double-folding clasp.
Where the name comes from
Padellone is Italian for ‘large frying pan’, the nickname Italian collectors gave to reference 8171: a 38 mm triple-calendar moonphase that Rolex built from the late 1940s into the early 1950s in a non-Oyster case with a snap-on back. It is described as one of only two vintage Rolex references to combine a complete calendar with a moon phase, and it was produced only briefly, which is why surviving examples are rare. For 2026 Rolex has adopted the collectors' nickname as the official model name — a rare acknowledgement of how the secondary market talks about the brand's own history.
Prices, availability and what it means for buyers and sellers
UK prices are as follows, with sales beginning in November:
- Ref. 53505-0002 — Everose gold, white grained dial, alligator leather: £49,150.
- Ref. 53506-0002 — platinum, ice-blue grained dial, alligator leather: £55,300.
- Ref. 53505-0003 — Everose gold, white grained dial, seven-link Settimo bracelet: £60,700.
Because the Padellone is offered only in precious metals, it sits far above the steel sports models that drive most pre-owned demand, and its audience is likely to overlap with buyers who already collect vintage complicated Rolexes rather than with first-time buyers.
For sellers, the revival is worth noting. Reference 8171 examples are scarce, and a new production model carrying the same name tends to send collectors back to the original. Owners of vintage triple-calendar pieces, or of other complicated Rolexes, may find this a sensible moment to have their watch valued. For buyers, the lesson is the one the pre-owned market teaches every season: a new release changes the standing of the watches that came before it, in both directions. Knowing what you hold — or what you are about to buy — is what turns that into a decision rather than a guess.
Sources
- Rolex — New Perpetual Padellone, New watches 2026 — www.rolex.com/watches/new-watches
- Time and Watches — Rolex Perpetual Padellone brings an instantaneous complete calendar to the collection — www.timeandwatches.com/2026/09/rolex-perpetual-padellone.html
- Watches by SJX — A Rolex Icon Returns as the Perpetual Padellone — watchesbysjx.com/2026/09/rolex-perpetual-padellone-53505-53506.html
- Esquire UK — Rolex Just Dropped a Surprise New £60,700 Watch — www.esquire.com/uk/watches/a73745493/rolex-padellone-watch/
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