NEW Rolex Padellone: Identity Crisis?

The new Rolex Perpetual Padellone is one of the biggest and most technically ambitious Rolex releases in decades—but at nearly £50,000, it also has a serious problem. In this video, I take a closer look at the Rolex Perpetual Padellone annual calendar, its vintage inspiration, controversial design and entirely new calibre 7190. This is Rolex moving beyond the Submariner, GMT-Master II and Daytona to compete directly with complicated watches from Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre. The Perpetual Padellone revives the historic Rolex reference 8171 with a 39mm precious-metal case, instantaneous annual calendar, meteorite moonphase and Rolex’s high-frequency Dynapulse escapement. Mechanically, this is an exceptionally impressive watch. Visually, however, the unusual moonphase, crowded dial, modern proportions and awkward placement of certain elements have already divided watch collectors. We examine the new Rolex calibre 7190, Haplos annual-calendar system, 5Hz frequency, 66-hour power reserve and instantaneous midnight calendar change. I also discuss the Everose gold and platinum versions, the Settimo bracelet, UK pricing, good points, bad points and who this watch is actually for. Most importantly, how does the Rolex Padellone compare with the Patek Philippe 5396R, Lange Saxonia Annual Calendar, Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar and other complicated watches available around the same price? Is the Rolex Perpetual Padellone a techn