Rolex is as famous for what it does as what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t, for instance, allow journalists to see inside its famously high-tech Swiss manufactures or offer interviews with its executives. It also doesn’t make high complications like perpetual calendars. And, most famously, it only releases watches once per year, in April. So, imagine the watch world’s surprise when, on Tuesday, Rolex announced the launch of the Padellone, a new addition to the brand’s dressy Perpetual collection featuring a complete annual calendar (day, date, month) and a moon phase display.
The surprise launch of the Padellone is strange for a bunch of reasons. First, and perhaps most notably, is its departure from Rolex’s longstanding release schedule. Does this mean Rolex will be launching more models mid-year? Then there’s the name. The Padellone is named after a Rolex complete calendar model, the ref. 8171, produced in a highly limited run of fewer than 1,200 pieces between 1949 and 1952. Collectors dubbed it “Padellone” (which means “frying pan” in Italian, supposedly because of its relatively beefy proportions), and it has since become a grail of grails for vintage Rolex enthusiasts, previously trading for over six figures — a price that is sure to rise following this week’s news. This breaks two more Rolex rules: first, it doesn’t do re-editions. And second, it tends to ignore collectors’ nicknames (you might call it the “Hulk,” but to Rolex it’s the 116610LV).
As many watch enthusiasts observed after the releases of the Rolex “Emoji” Day-Date, the “Le Mans” Daytona, and Land-Dweller — all pieces that broke new aesthetic ground — the brand’s long-held credo of incremental evolution is changing. The Padellone doesn’t just look different, though. As the first complete annual calendar since the 1960s, it suggests that Rolex, long known for tool watches like the Submariner and Daytona, is looking to enter the complications game in a much more significant way.
The Padellone comes in a 39mm case in Everose gold or 950 platinum: the former on a seven-link Settimo bracelet or a matte brown alligator leather strap with a white dial, and the latter on a matte black alligator leather strap with an ice blue dial. Both feature a sapphire case back that reveals a new movement decorated with Rolex Côtes de Genève and a yellow-gold oscillating weight. If any other brand made this, it would be fairly unremarkable by the numbers. Because it’s a Rolex, though, it’s a very, very big deal. So what does it all mean? For one thing, it means that Rolex ADs’ phones and inboxes will be inundated with countless requests for what is sure to be a highly limited-production model. For another, you can expect to see Roger Federer and/or Leonardo DiCaprio modeling one in the very near future. Most importantly, though, it means that the most steadfast brand in watchmaking is entering a new era in which nothing is off the table.
FEATURE PHOTO COURTESY OF ROLEX.
