Rolex’s Surprise New Watch Boasts Arguably Its Most Advanced Movement Yet

Rolex’s Surprise New Watch Boasts Arguably Its Most Advanced Movement Yet

A classic complication returns, with a technological twist.

Yet that’s exactly what the Crown just did.

Seemingly out of nowhere (except, not really), Rolex has introduced the Perpetual Padellone, a complicated version of its Perpetual 1908 dress watch featuring an annual calendar and moonphase.

While Rolex’s Sky-Dweller boasts an annual calendar and its discontinued Cellini line last featured a moonphase complication in 2023, the two complications have never appeared together on a Rolex before. The Crown’s closest attempt was the Reference 8171 from the 1950s, a complete calendar that combined symmetrical day and month apertures with a pointer date and a 6:00 moonphase display.

The 8171 has been nicknamed “Padellone” by collectors in reference to its flat 38mm case; the word is Italian for “frying pan.” Rolex isn’t hiding that this classic watch inspired the new model, as it finally brings “Padellone” into official Rolex vernacular.

The new Perpetual Padellone differs from its complete calendar forefather in that it is an annual calendar. While a complete calendar requires manual correction for all months that don’t end in 31 days, an annual calendar will automatically adjust to the correct date at the end of every month, with the exception of February.

Thus, an annual calendar requires a manual correction once per year, or annually, hence the name. The next step up the horological ladder is a perpetual calendar, which accounts for leap years and therefore requires no manual corrections. To date, Rolex has never produced one.

Back to the Perpetual Padellone, it’s pretty unique among annual calendars in that its day, date and month complications all instantaneously “jump” at midnight rather than gradually changing over, making for quite the spectacle once per day.

The watch is powered by the Rolex Calibre 7190, which is an all-new automatic movement from Rolex. It’s also arguably the most advanced movement we’ve seen from the brand yet.

The jumping annual calendar alone already puts the calibre in the conversation, but what really puts the 7190 over the top is the movement’s Dynapulse escapement. This is just the second Rolex movement to feature the watchmaker’s highly advanced high-beat escapement, and the first outside of a Land-Dweller, where it made its debut in 2025.

The Dynapulse escapement replaces the traditional Swiss lever escapement used in almost every other mechanical watch with a frictionless system of wheels and a rocker made entirely of silicon. It beats at 5Hz, which is two times more per second than other Rolex movements. It also requires no lubrication, is highly resistant to magnetism and shocks, is more efficient and, theoretically, more precise. (For more on how it works, go here.)

For the Calibre 7190, Rolex adds a new patented annual calendar system called Haplos, which is deceptively simple in that it uses just two parts to differentiate between months with 30 and 31 days: an annual lever and an additional carrier finger, both coupled to the date complication.

The movement is visible through a sapphire caseback on the Perpetual Padellone, just as on other references in the Perpetual line, and it features Geneva-striped bridges and an 18K yellow gold rotor.

As for the design of the new watch, it blends the aesthetics of the Perpetual 1908 with the layout of the original Padellone. Its grained dial features day and month apertures below 12:00, a moonphase indicator at 6:00 and a centrally mounted crescent-tipped hand tracking a satin-finished date scale around the periphery of the dial.

The moonphase disc is finished with blue enamel and features two old-school moon appliqués with faces, one full and one shaded to represent the new moon. Both moons are made of meteorite, providing a tangible celestial connection.

The handset and applied indices, which include Arabic numerals at 3 and 9 and the Crown logo at 12, are largely borrowed from the 1908, as is the svelte 39mm case design, which features a two-part bezel with a domed top and fluted bottom.

The case has two pushers on both sides, four in total, meaning there’s one for setting each complication. This is far from the most elegant solution for adjusting an annual calendar, but on the flip side, adjustments can be made at any time without damaging the movement; a rarity.

Availability and pricing

The Perpetual Padellone launches with three references, all in precious metal. There’s Everose gold with a white dial on a brown alligator leather strap (Ref. M53505-0002) for $59,000; and platinum with an ice blue dial on a black alligator leather strap (Ref. M53506-0002) for $66,200. Both strap versions are paired with a folding Dualclasp in the same material as their respective cases.

Topping out the line is a version in Everose gold with a white dial on an Everose Settimo bracelet (Ref. M53505-0003) for $72,800. The watch marks the first appearance of the Settimo in that material, which was introduced as an option on yellow gold 1908 references last year.

The Perpetual Padellone does not yet have a true product page on Rolex’s website, though it should hypothetically be available now to very well-connected individuals, e.g., Roger Federer and Leonardo DiCaprio.