Rolex rarely does anything unexpectedly, which made the September arrival of the Perpetual Padellone—a complicated dress watch unveiled outside its customary Watches and Wonders schedule—almost as significant as the watch itself.
As reported by GQ, the collection marks Rolex’s most ambitious modern return to the calendar-and-moonphase watches it produced in small numbers during the mid-20th century. Its name comes from reference 8171, nicknamed Padellone, or “large frying pan,” by Italian collectors because its 38mm case seemed unusually broad in the early 1950s.
For Vietnamese collectors, the more resonant connection is the 8171’s sibling, reference 6062. This family includes the legendary “Bảo Đại,” once owned by Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy, the last emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty.
Its story begins in Geneva in spring 1954. Bảo Đại, who had abdicated in 1945 and was then Chief of State of the State of Vietnam, was in Switzerland as international negotiations sought to determine Vietnam’s future following the First Indochina War.
According to Phillips, during a recess at the Hôtel des Bergues, he crossed the street to Chronométrie Philippe Beguin and requested the rarest and most precious Rolex available. When the initial selection disappointed him, the retailer contacted Rolex, which dispatched an exceptional reference 6062.
The yellow-gold watch combined a glossy black dial, complete calendar, moonphase and five diamond hour markers. Only three black-dial 6062s with diamond markers are known; Bảo Đại’s configuration, with diamonds at the even-numbered hours, is considered unique.
The mechanics were equally distinctive. Reference 6062 housed its calendar and moonphase in a waterproof Oyster case, paired with an automatic, chronometer-certified movement. Reference 8171 offered comparable calendar information but lacked the Oyster case, making the 6062 a particularly compelling expression of Rolex’s early complicated watchmaking.
Bảo Đại wore his watch regularly, leaving evidence on its case. After his death in France in 1997, his family consigned it for auction in 2002. It fetched CHF 370,000, then a Rolex record. Returning to Phillips in untouched, unrestored condition in May 2017, it sold for CHF 5,066,000, again setting the record before Paul Newman’s Daytona surpassed it later that year.
Its value reflected a rare combination: mechanical scarcity, unique design, exceptional preservation and historical provenance.
The Perpetual Padellone does not reproduce the Bảo Đại, nor has Rolex officially presented it as a tribute. It does, however, reopen the chapter to which references 8171 and 6062 belong.
At 39mm, the new model is just one millimetre wider—and slightly thinner—than the vintage 8171. Its display echoes its predecessors: day and month windows beneath 12 o’clock, a hand indicating the date around the dial, and a moonphase at six.
Technically, Rolex has moved the concept forward. An instantaneous annual calendar replaces the vintage complete calendar, automatically distinguishing between 30- and 31-day months. Powered by the new calibre 7190 and patented Haplos system, the day, date and month advance together at midnight, requiring only one annual calendar correction, between February and March.
The moonphase adds a playful detail: smiling celestial faces rendered in meteorite, with a dark-blue treatment distinguishing the new moon against an enamel disc.
Three versions are scheduled for November: Everose gold with a white dial at US$59,000 on an alligator strap or US$72,800 on a Settimo bracelet, and platinum with an ice-blue dial at US$66,200.
Following the Perpetual 1908’s introduction in 2023, the Padellone suggests a broader shift for a company whose modern dominance rests largely on sports watches such as the Submariner, GMT-Master II and Daytona.
For Vietnam, its arrival is also an opportunity to reconsider the Bảo Đại beyond its auction price. It is a surviving personal object from a key historical period in Vietnamese history, purchased as the country’s political future was being negotiated nearby.
That history now circulates largely through Swiss auction catalogues, international publications and private collections. The emperor’s title enhances the watch’s financial value, even as the object remains physically and culturally distant from Vietnam.
The Padellone cannot close that distance. But it can renew attention to an extraordinary watch with Vietnamese provenance—and remind us that objects from the country’s past continue telling Vietnamese stories, wherever they reside.
Image courtesy of Rolex
