Rolex Surprises Everyone With the Perpetual Padellone, An Annual Calendar Moonphase Tribute To A Legend

Usually, when Rolex releases something on a random Tuesday and not at one of the big shows (actually, just Watches & Wonders), it's going to be something big. This release we got yesterday is big, even though it cuts some corners, not just for Rolex, but also for Milan Design Week, where the new Perpetual Padellone was introduced. Good for MDW, but I'm a bit annoyed with this watch. First, I'm annoyed with the name. Despite being called the Perpetual Padellone it is absolutely not a perpetual calendar. Despite what Rolex might tell you, it is an annual calendar watch. Which brings me to the other annoying thing, the price. But more on that later. The good thing about the new Perpetual Padellone is its look. It's a handsome watch, which makes sense since it pays direct homage to their reference 8171, a 38mm triple calendar moonphase made between 1949 and 1953 in roughly 1,000 to 1,200 examples. Its Italian nickname means "big frying pan," and you can kind of see it. This new version combines the Perpetual 1908 case with the Land-Dweller's movement tech, so let's dig in.

The case is 39mm wide and 12.2mm thick, with a lug-to-lug of 45mm, so essentially the 1908 footprint with extra height for the calendar. You can choose between 18k Everose gold or 950 platinum. Every surface is polished, and both the fluted bezel and sapphire crystal are domed. Rolex doesn't do what their competitors do and put all the calendar operations into the crown. Instead, you get four recessed correctors on the flanks for month, date, moonphase, and day that require a tool to operate. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The layout follows the original: a date track around the edge with a central pointer, day and month windows at 12, and a moonphase at 6. Everose models get an Intense White dial and platinum gets Ice Blue, both with a matte grained center and a satin-finished raised date track. The blue date pointer has a tiny crescent moon at the tip. The 3 and 9 numerals are applied, the indices are faceted, the an hour hand has a circular tip, and a the minute hand is pencil shaped. They are all done in rose or white gold, matching the case color. The moonphase uses a blue enamel disc with meteorite moons.

Inside is the in-house calibre 7190, built on the Land-Dweller's calibre 7135 with the silicon Dynapulse escapement, beating at 5Hz with a 66-hour power reserve and Superlative Chronometer accuracy of -2/+2 seconds a day. That's a very cool movement, objectively. What's not cool is the annual calendar module. I mean, the module is cool in itself, as it adds only two parts to the date mechanism, a carrier finger and an annual lever, and the month programming is cut into the back of the month disc. It's not cool that the watch kind of baits you with the Perpetual name, as you have to correct it once a year, at the end of February. Both metals come on alligator straps (brown for Everose, black for platinum) with green calfskin lining and a Dualclasp. The Everose model is also offered on the seven-link Settimo bracelet with a concealed Crownclasp.

The Rolex Perpetual Padellone joins the permanent collection. And here we come to the next disappointment. The Everose on leather (ref. 53505-0002) is priced at CHF 52,500, the Everose on the Settimo bracelet (ref. 53505-0003) is priced at CHF 64,800, and the platinum (ref. 53506-0002) is priced at CHF 59,000. That's an outrageous amount of money for an industrially made annual calendar, regardless of the brand and material. See more on the Rolex website.